George Lucas' secret Star Wars playground Aug 10, 2008
The main Big Rock ranch building appears to have been inspired by Japanese architecture and guarding the front door is a familiar face - a statue of Yoda, the tiny green Jedi Master. Lucas has invited the media to Big Rock to promote his new film, , a fully animated feature opening in theatres around the world this month. (Daily Telegraph)
Visionary designers Jun 28, 2008
He cites traditional Japanese architecture and garden especially wooden teahouses as his greatest inspiration. As for design trends in Japan, , Kuma notes that people are paying more attention to the design of small spaces. (The Star Online, Malaysia)
A Chanel executive's Japanese pad May 10, 2008
The term is apt for the rooms of this hanare, or annex - a rarity in modern Japanese architecture - as well as the house it accompanies. Both stand on a plot of land that covers 400 tsubo - that is, 1,300 square meters, or one- third of an acre - near the lush green hills of Kamakura, where ancient Japanese monuments like temples and shrines are well preserved. (International Herald Tribune)
$3 million tax cut on Larry Ellison's estate Mar 28, 2008
But Ellison's appeal claimed the property suffered from "significant functional obsolescence" because there is a finite market for high-end luxury homes, limited appeal for 16th-century Japanese architecture and the "over improvements" and "excessive" landscaping are costly to maintain. The board ultimately agreed, slicing the valuation by around $100 million for each of the last three years, for a tax savings of more than $3 million, Flinn said. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Orange County art exhibit captures the spirit of the '50s Nov 9, 2007
John McLaughlin, the greatest of the painters on view, favored straight edges and a small number of shapes, taking cues from Japanese architecture and art as much as such earlier modernist painters as Mondrian. Karl Benjamin created elegant pattern, in a painting like Black Pillars (1957), which hinted at architecture and landscape but explicitly depicted neither. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Nikko Hotel: Subtle renovation rejuvenates key city intersection Sep 30, 2007
The new expansion and renovation project was designed by Kenzo Tange Associates, an internationally renowned modernist Japanese architecture design firm. The office is headed by Kenzo Tange, a winner of the Pritzker Prize, an "Academy Award" for architects. (Jakarta Post, Indonesia -- Features)
Eye on Art: Gulf Breeze gains art venues Aug 17, 2007
Wright was pivotal in 20th century architecture, having branded the clean aesthetics of the "International Style." He widely claimed to be uninfluenced by Japanese architecture and pointed to nature as his sole mentor. Dr. Doyon recently taught in Japan and will confirm a nexus between Wright's vocabulary and Japanese construction. (Pensacola News Journal)
The local faces of Buddhism Jul 15, 2007
Shin: Fresno Betsuin Buddhist Temple, a fixture on Kern Street since 1902 despite a major fire in 1919, features Japanese architecture. It was designed for early Japanese immigrants to the Valley. (Fresno Bee)
A quiet spectator Apr 15, 2007
There had to be a flow between open and defined areas in the main space," says Baer. Because Michael Webb loves Japanese architecture, Baer added a tansu-like staircase as a focal point. It leads the eye upward to the master suite just under the heavy roof beams. "There is a marriage between Japanese buildings and agricultural barns. I looked at barns that have that kind of heavy timbered joinery for inspiration," she adds. Another bedroom and bath on the entry level and an office that doubles... (San Francisco Chronicle)
Tyler Brûlé: Tokyo urbanism project is hard to top Apr 13, 2007
Across the front, vertical wood screens nod to traditional Japanese architecture while the familiar logo has been reduced to only back-lit white. Inside the product mix is slightly more upscale and the lighting is marginally more flattering. (International Herald Tribune -- Travel)
How To Live Like A Billionaire Mar 9, 2007
His lavish , which has been estimated at $100 million, features feudal Japanese architecture, a man-made lake and approximately seven additional buildings. Bill Gates' is built into a hillside on the edge of Lake Washington, near Seattle. (Forbes)
Salvaging Japan's fading country homes Feb 23, 2007
"Most Japanese architecture is driven by whatever is fashionable, especially overseas. Minka are probably the only type of Japanese building that takes its environment into consideration,'' says Mehta. Farmhouses in snowy climates, for example, have grass-thatched roofs built into what is called a "praying hands'' shape because of their distinctive steep slopes meant to keep snow from piling up. Their close links to their environments, the craftsmanship that went into them and the careful... (The Star Online, Malaysia)
Barbican Art Gallery Exhibition Jan 31, 2007
Aalto admired the dedication to individual craftsmanship and sensitivity to natural materials that he found in Japanese architecture from the 1930s. Sixty years on, this influence comes full circle in the work of Shigeru Ban who acknowledges a huge debt to Aalto s approach to design, sharing his ambition to harmonise buildings with their environment. (Suite101.com)
It's all part of life Jan 3, 2007
The stadium was chosen to be one of the venues for soccer's 2002 World Cup, co-hosted by Japan and South Korea, and the enthusiastic reviews of the design pegged Abe as a rising star in Japanese architecture ... " Abe knows that those ideas may not necessarily translate into an American context. The notion of turning L.A.'s darkened lots into drive-in theaters, for example, is probably a recipe for mayhem. "Different strategies for different places," he acknowledges. He does not expect it to be... (Los Angeles Times)
