The Constructed Other: Japanese Architecture in the Western Mind

Ever since Japan opened to the world in the mid-19th century, the West has held a strong fascination with Japanese architecture and, in doing so, successfully turned it into an exotic phenomenon or, indeed, myth. Western narratives became obsessed with isolated images of temples, gardens, Ise Shrine, Katsura Villa, and not least the proverbial Japanese house and, as a result, all of which have been turned into stereotypes in our perceptions. With little real knowledge about the cultural context and a way of life that gave birth to them, and thus deprived of their native ground, they were subject to systematic misunderstandings. Scores of even noted Western architects, while routinely applying their own criteria or value systems, have failed to decipher the meaning of this highly complex and profoundly rich Asian architectural culture. We in the West have too often been blinded by our own prejudices and, when looking at Japanese architecture, saw only what we wanted to or could see.

Kevin Nute’s excellent book, The Constructed Other, is the first and long overdue publication to highlight and debunk this still prevailing misguided Western view of Japanese architecture. It is a must reading for all who intend to approach and learn about the centuries-long fertile Japanese architecture.

Botond Bognar, Professor and Edgar A. Tafel Endowed Chair in Architecture, University of Illinois Urban-Champaign, USA

The allure of the architecture of Japan has long captured the imagination of designers in the West since its opening to the world in the mid-19th century up to the present. Kevin Nute’s The Constructed Other analyzes the multiple narratives of “Japanese Architecture” ranging from Gothic revival architect Ralph Adams Cram to Postmodernism theorist Charles Jencks. The vicissitudes of these accounts including observations of canonical landmarks from the seemingly ornate Nikko Shrine to minimal Ise Shrine and both modern and complex Katsura Imperial Villa collectively dispel the illusion of a singular, essential architectural tradition. Nute’s own nuanced interpretations build on his previous books Frank Lloyd Wright and Japan (2000) and Place, Time and Being in Japanese Architecture (2004) and underscore the continuing role of the “Constructed Other” as architects’ look to Japan for, as Nute elucidates, “self-evaluation, validation, and inspiration.”

Ken Tadashi Oshima, Professor of Architecture, University of Washington, USA

Japanese architecture is different, it has specificities that made it “avant-garde” even before modern architecture was created. Since the opening of Japan to the West, this other mythical kind of architecture has fascinated Western visitors. Today, it keeps on offering multiple interpretations for developing contemporary creations. Kevin Nute’s book offers a meaningful reflection on traditional and new Japanese architectures as seen in Western eyes, and their desires to reveal and construct spatial mysteries.

Benoit Jacquet, Associate Professor, Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient, Director EFEO Research Centre, Kyoto, Japan

The West has long been fascinated with Japan as a place both “enigmatic” and “exotic.” Simultaneously, Japan has been aware of and responded to outside influences. The Constructed Other confronts the Western gaze on Japan and Japanese architecture in particular and turns it back on itself. The book explores the role of influential Western architects in defining “Japan-ness” and its varied forms of value to both the West and Japan. The Constructed Other challenges superficial readings of Japanese architecture and advocates for deep reflection into our intentions as observers – and sometimes connoisseurs, collectors, and exploiters – of the “other.”

Mira Locher,Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, University of Manitoba, Canada