"This is a powerfully anti-modernist book, yet contains the most beautiful evocation of the traditional Japanese aesthetic, which cast such a spell on Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright.
"The contradiction is easily explained: Tanizaki sees the empty Japanese wall as not empty at all, but a surface on which light continually traces its fugitive presence against encroaching shadow. He constructs a myth of the origin of the Japanese house: it began with a roof and overhanging eaves, which cast a shadow on the earth, calling …
"This is a powerfully anti-modernist book, yet contains the most beautiful evocation of the traditional Japanese aesthetic, which cast such a spell on Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright.
"The contradiction is easily explained: Tanizaki sees the empty Japanese wall as not empty at all, but a surface on which light continually traces its fugitive presence against encroaching shadow. He constructs a myth of the origin of the Japanese house: it began with a roof and overhanging eaves, which cast a shadow on the earth, calling forth a shelter."
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Erschienen am 1977
A heartfelt defense of Japanese traditions, especially the beauty that comes from a darker ascetic not found in the ever-popular western style. It's the type of book that forces the reader to think about the cost of progress and how much money one would sell their culture for.
