Kenzo Tange
Katsura: Tradition and Creation in Japanese Architecture.
Yale University Press, 1972. Redesigned edition. English translation by Charles S. Terry. Photographs by Yasuhiro Ishimoto. 0300015992 195 pages.
Large-format volume, measuring approximately 11" x 11.5", is bound in gilt-lettered white cloth spine and brown cloth-covered boards, with stamped gilt lettering to front cover. Book is in fine condition, with solid binding, clean and bright interior. Dust jacket, with price of $22.50 on front flap, exhibits light shelfwear. Book is preserved in cardboard slipcase.
"Katsura,..., has profoundly influenced Japanese architecture and artistic taste and the ideas of modern architects and designers. Built in the years 1620-47 for the imperial prince Toshihito as a country villa near Kyoto, it is at once the crown of the aristocratic tradition and a brilliant reflection of emergent popular elements. In his interpretive essay the architect Kenzo Tange identifies the great cultural forces that inspired the design of the palace and its gardens with basic orientations to life which have long opposed each other in Japan: the traditional "Yayoi" culture and the primitive "Jomon" culture."