Japan, Archipelago of the House
23 June – 10 July 2016

From June 23 - July 10 2016, Looiersgracht 60 presents ‘Japan, Archipelago of the House’ – a travelling exhibition that explores the Japanese house within its physical, cultural and social context. The idea of the Japanese house captivates and intrigues. It is as celebrated as it is vague and indistinct - a phenomenon that has fascinated Europeans for a long time. But what do we really know about the Japanese house? What does it look like? Who inhabits it?

In order to answer these questions, the exhibition has been divided into the following three sections.

1. Yesterday's Houses: fourteen case studies of famous twentieth century homes built between 1933 and 1984. Although not exhaustive this selection includes houses by famous architects such as Tado Ando and Pritzker Prize winner Toyo Ito.

2.Tokyo Houses: A photographic documentary by Jeremie Souteyrat comprised of thirty-six house "portraits" in their environments.

3. Today's houses: Twenty case studies of houses built between 1993 and 2013, by a variety of established architects including Shigeru Ban Architects, Yasushi Horibe, Atelier Bow Wow and Mikan.

Leading us through 70 houses altogether, ‘Japan, Archipelago of the House’ is dedicated exclusively to Japanese architects and elegantly addresses the issues of misunderstanding surrounding the phenomenon that is the Japanese house, while providing historical and contextual cues to understanding the development of these unique living spaces.