Purple Magazine
— S/S 2016 issue 25
International House and Nishinoyama House
photography by TAKASHI HOMMA
No photographer has better captured the aesthetic of Japanese urban landscape than Takashi Homma. Here he has photographed two types of Japanese architecture — the International House and the Nishinoyama House — separated in time by half a century, both celebrating the delicate interaction between gardens, light, air, and glass in a simple, modest, and elegant way.
The INTERNATIONAL HOUSE was commissioned by the Rockefellers and built in 1955 in the heart of Tokyo by Japanese architects Kunio Maekawa, Junzo– Sakakura, and Junzo– Yoshimura. It was expanded in 1976. It houses a private, nonprofit organization for the purpose of promoting cultural exchange.
Overlooking Kyoto is the NISHINOYAMA HOUSE, a tight cluster of 10 very modern residences, constructed in 2013 by Kazuyo Sejima. Each unit interacts with one another
in a maze of picture windows, micro-gardens, and narrow passageways that both separate and unite them.
