Learning from the Japanese City: West Meets East in Urban Design

by Barrie Shelton

Unlike the serene Buddhist gardens and Meiji-era temples of old world Japan, the country's modern architecture and urban planning on first look, appear monotonously gray or aggressively gaudy. This book shows how an appreciation of Japan's cities is often at odds with Western thought and culture.

Learning from the Japanese City explores how Westerners tend to think of the city as a network of linear spaces, such as formed streets, while the Japanese see it as more of a patchwork of areas. Barrie Shelton suggests that this contrast in urban planning extend to other areas of cultural expression, including, most fundamentally, the written language. The book shows how an embrace of fracture, transformation and non-linear qualities, that appear chaotic, emerge as a potential source of learning and inspiration for Western architects and planners.

Genres: Nonfiction, Cities, Japan, Architecture, Urban Planning, Design, Urbanism

210 pages, Hardcover

First published July 27, 1999

Reviews

[Powersamurai · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a long time resident of Japan, I've often wondered about the ad hoc cityscape in Japan but just accepted it as it was over the years. Shelton has helped me connect the dots and put some order to what most of us Westerners think is a mess. It's really not a mess at all. A bit expensive for a casual read, but well worth it for those with a deep interest in the whys of Japan's town planning.

[Yalin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The work of Shelton is one I have read closely with interest and with great ease. His dissection and discussion of the Japanese urban landscape - over about 170 pages - reads in a way I would not have expected from a scholarly work. It is not littered with jargon and boring in depth discussion of minute details that end up not mattering, but rather it is a creative and intriguing whole which is colored by the addition of Shelton's personal recollections and observations about the Japanese urban landscape. It is a great look into what makes the Japanese urban structures and landscapes so unique and interesting as an object of study, and as a living and evolving structure. It is a great work and a wonderful read - which I would recommend to beginners and enthusiasts of the subject of Japanese urbanism/urban studies.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book, overflowing with ideas. Shelton approaches his analysis from unlikely angles, considering Japanese writing systems, the design of children’s magazine covers, the terraforming of land, and use of sidewalks. I learned a ton. It’s not terribly easy to read but accessible to a non-academic.

[Showering · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for my Master study, it's pretty interesting.