Katsura

A detailed history of Katsura, the seventeenth-century Imperial Palace in Kyoto, Japan, a pivotal work of Japanese architecture, often described as the 'quintessence of Japanese taste'. First revealed to the modern architectural world by Bruno Taut, the great German architect, in the early twentieth-century, Katsura stunned and then excited the architectural community of the West. Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, pillars of the Modernist establishment, were fascinated by Katsura's 'modernity'. This book documents the palace in detail, combining newly commissioned photographs, detailed drawings, archival material, and historical analysis.

About the Authors

Arata Isozaki (b.1931) is one of the most important living Japanese architects today. After spending nine years working as an apprentice for Kenzo Tange, he went on to establish his own firm in 1963. Since then, he has earned a reputation across the globe for his notable buildings in Europe, America and Asia and was awarded the RIBA gold medal in 1986.

Manfred Speidel (b.1938) graduated from the University of Stuttgart Department of Architecture in 1965 and is a leading authority on Bruno Taut.

Bruno Taut (1880?1938) was a German-born architect and theorist who visited Katsura in the 1930s and was one of the first to champion the complex as a precursor of modern architecture.

Walter Gropius (1883?1969) was chairman of Harvard University's Graduate School of Design from 1937?52 and was a founder of the Bauhaus.

Kenzo Tange (1913?2005) was one of Japan's foremost architects and was the winner of the 1987 Ptitzker Architecture Prize.

Francesco Dal Co (b.1945) is Professor of Architectural History at the University Institute of Architecture in Venice.