02466    a2200373   450000500170000000800410001702000220005803700360008004000070011604100080012307200150013107200150014607200140016107200150017507200130019007200130020307200120021607200130022807200210024107200210026207200210028307200210030407200210032507200210034607200210036707200170038810000190040524500270042425000060045126000320045730000100048952015760049999900170207520250526161923.0250430042019GB        76           eng    a9781138390843qBC  bTaylor & FranciscGBP 35.99fBB  a01  aeng7 aAMD2thema7 aAMX2thema7 aTN2thema7 aAMA2thema7 aAMD2bic7 aAMX2bic7 aTN2bic7 aAMA2bic7 aARC0000002bisac7 aARC0010002bisac7 aARC0040002bisac7 aARC0050002bisac7 aARC0060002bisac7 aARC0060102bisac7 aARC0150002bisac7 a720.12bisac1 aKengo Kuma99510aArchitecture of Defeat  a1  aOxfordbRoutledgec20190628  a174 p  bKengo Kuma, one of Japan’s leading architects, has been combining professional practice and academia for most of his career. In addition to creating many internationally recognized buildings all over the world, he has written extensively about the history and theory of architecture. Like his built work, his writings also reflect his profound personal philosophy. Architecture of Defeat is no exception. Now available in English for the first time, the book explores events and architectural trends in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in both Japan and beyond. It brings together a collection of essays which Kuma wrote after disasters such as the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York City on 9/11 and the earthquake and tsunami that obliterated much of the built landscape on Japan’s northern shore in a matter of minutes in 2011. Asking if we have been building in a manner that is too self-confident or arrogant, he examines architecture’s intrinsic—and often problematic—relationship to the powerful forces of contemporary politics, economics, consumerism, and technology, as well as its vital ties to society. Despite the title, Architecture of Defeat is an optimistic and hopeful book. Rather than anticipating the demise of architecture, Kuma envisages a different mode of conceiving architecture: guided and shaped by more modesty and with greater respect for the forces of our natural world. Beautifully designed and illustrated, this is a fascinating insight into the thinking of one of the world’s most influential architects.  c10112d10112