Record Extraordinaire! Uzo Nishiyama’s Notebooks on Houses and Living

Is your home a 1LDK, 2DK or perhaps a 1K? This familiar Japanese classification of apartment layout and size is one of the many architectural concepts said to trace its roots back to the work of Uzo Nishiyama (1911-1994), one of the most prominent architects of his day and a pioneer of modern housing in this country. Published in 1947, Nishiyama's book 'Kore kara no sumai' ('Housing of the Future') proved hugely influential when urban planners took on the humongous task of reconstruction and the provision of apartments for Japan's working masses in the early postwar era. This exhibition consists of sketches, blueprints, photographs and other materials that cover most of the Osaka-born trailblazer's career, going beyond his housing work to include plans for love hotels and day-labourers' dormitories.