After the Crash :
Architecture in Post-Bubble Japan
Thomas Daniell

In the late 1980s, Japan was awash in seemingly unlimited wealth and rising toward what would be the peak of its modern economic success, power, and influence. In 1991 the same lethal combination of risky loans, inflated stocks, and real estate speculation that created this "bubble economy" caused it to burst, plunging the country into its worst recession since World War II. New Zealand–born architect Thomas Daniell arrived in Japan at the dawn of this turbulent decade. After the Crash is an anthology of essays that draw on firsthand observations of the built environment and architectural culture that emerged from the economically sober post-bubble period of the 1990s. Daniell uses projects and installations by architects such as Atelier Bow Wow, Toyo Ito, and the metabolists to illustrate the new relationships forged, most of necessity, between architecture and society in Japan.


Tom Daniell is a practicing architect, critic, and educator who has based himself in Kyoto, Japan since the early 1990s. He was born in New Zealand, and spent time living and working in a variety of countries (Australia, the USA, the Netherlands) before settling in Japan. He holds a Bachelor of Architecture with honors from Victoria University, a Master of Engineering from Kyoto University, and is currently an invited PhD candidate at RMIT. He runs his own architecture practice, and his design work has been awarded, published, and exhibited internationally. From 1995-2005, he was a core member of the office FOBA, and he is co-author of the monograph FOBA: Buildings (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2005). He is currently a correspondent and editorial advisor for the Dutch publications Archis/Volume and Mark, architecture critic for the Tokyo-based Artscape website, and was previously on the editorial board of the Architectural Institute of Japan Journal. He publishes widely on themes related to contemporary art and architecture, and has participated in a number of international exhibitions, as both exhibitor and curator. He is an Associate Professor at Kyoto Seika University, a Lecturer at Kyoto University, a Visiting Fellow at the RMIT Spatial Information Architecture Lab, and a frequent guest speaker and juror at universities throughout the world.
add to cart

Editorial Reviews

In the Modern World, Dwell Magazine :
"Expatriate architect Thomas Daniell, now a resident in Kyoto, take sus on a historical and spatial tour of his adopted home country. Part architectural handbook, part critical look at the contemporary building, After the Crash spans the economy, infrastructure, and impossibly small spaces of modern Japan." (March, 2009)

After the Crash: Architecture in Post-Bubble Japan, Architectural Record:
"After the Crash articulates sometimes surprising explanations for a range of Japanese architectural enigmas, among them the conspicuous absence of the open, public spaces central to many Western cities; the remarkably filtered or even ambivalent relationship between architecture and nature; and the ambiguous legacy of Metabolism, the often-overlooked 1960s architecturalmovement that never realized its full potential." — Naomi R. Pollock (November, 2009)

Architecture Lab Magazine :
"Daniells study and revealing of the multiple layers below the surfaces of architectural projects is most revealing, such as how the plethora of single-family houses that litter glossy magazines relates to the transforming social conditions of the country. Ultimately Daniell does not fall prey to the typical view of Japan, mainly as a balance of the serene (temples, rock gardens) and the chaotic (Tokyos urban fabric, its neon streetscapes). Instead he embraces the shades in between, exploring those and finding much to be learned, analyzed and shared." (October 12, 2008)

Interstices:
"After the Crash is one of the first English-language books to survey the Japanese scene published since the millenium.... cements Daniell's place as one of the most articulate and astute interpreters of the Japanese architecture scene for Western audiences." (January 2009)

A Daily Dose of Architecture Blog:
"The collection categorizes the 25 essays into various themes (Domestic Spaces, Public Places, Revitalizing Metabolism, etc.), rather than presenting them chronologically. This tactic reduces the arbitrary nature of the latter approach, allowing the book itself to act as a study in discovering recurring and common strands in the post-bubble decade. The chapter on Nature and Artifice, for example, looks at projects by Terunobu Fujimori, Foreign Office Architects and even musician Laurie Anderson, a diverse collection that parallels the various interpretations of nature and its apparent opposite, interpretations that move beyond traditional views of nature in Japanese culture. Creative contemporary sustainability melded with apparently traditional forms is found in Fujimori's buildings, while FOA's extremely popular Yokohama Ferry Terminal exploits innovations in the computer's role in design and construction, and Anderson's project for Expo 2005 in Aichi is an experiential installation in a Japanese garden that rewards patience and increases ones appreciation of their familiar surroundings." — John (October 11, 2008)

Books: The City, Reconsidered , Architectural Record:
"After the Crash articulates sometimes surprising explanations for a range of Japanese architectural enigmas, among them the conspicuous absence of the open, public spaces central to many Western cities; the remarkably filtered or even ambivalent relationship between architecture and nature; and the ambiguous legacy of Metabolism, the often-overlooked 1960s architectural movement that never realized its full potential." — Naomi R. Pollack (November 2009)

Reader Comments

Be the first to add your comments about this book!