Dezeen Magazine

Free comp: Japanese House Reinvented
House in Komazawa by Go Hasegawa & Associates. Photograph by Iwan Baan

Competition: win a book showcasing 50 new Japanese houses

Dezeen is giving away five copies of The Japanese House Reinvented by Philip Jodidio, a book featuring 50 houses that highlight Japan's current residential trends.

The book showcases properties from the last five years, designed by architects ranging from Pritzker Prize-winners to recent graduates.

Among the homes featured are designs by Koji TsutsuiTadao Ando and Shigeru Ban. Architectural trends in materials and technology are also explored.

"Contemporary Japanese architecture has emerged as a substantial force on the international scene ever since Kenzo Tange won the Pritzker Prize in 1987," said publisher Thames & Hudson.

Free comp: Japanese House Reinvented
Bent House by Koji Tsutsui & Associates. Photograph by Iwan Baan

"Japanese houses today have to contend with unique factors that condition their design, from tiny plots in crowded urban contexts to ever-present seismic threats," it continued.

"Their formal innovation and attention to materials, technology and measures to coax in light and air while maintaining domestic privacy make them cutting-edge residences that suggest new ways of being at home."

Free comp: Japanese House Reinvented
Villa in Sengokuhara by Shigeru Ban Architects. Photograph by Hiroyuki Harai

Shigeru Ban's Villa in Sengokubara is one of the featured properties. For this, Ban created a timber structure with a sequence of rooms that each face towards a central courtyard.

Another is Koji Tsutsui's Inbetween House, a cluster of five connected cottages in a mountain region outside of Tokyo.

Free comp: Japanese House Reinvented
InBetween House by Koji Tsutsui & Associates. Photograph by Iwan Baan

The Japanese House Reinvented was released in early 2017. Its launch coincides with the latest exhibition at London's Barbican, The Japanese House: Architecture and Life after 1945.

This exhibition offers an overview of the developing distinct styles that defined Japanese house design after the second world war, and is on show until 25 June 2017.

Free comp: Japanese House Reinvented
House in Utsubo Park by Tadao Ando. Photograph by Shigeo Ogawa

Five readers will each win a copy of The Japanese House Reinvented, published by Thames & Hudson, but it can also also be purchased online for £24.95.