Katsura: Imperial Villa

This serene and stately volume presents the famously private Japanese imperial residence as a place of beguilement. Originally built in the 17th century by two generations of Japanese nobility, it fell under imperial control in the 19th century and remained closed to visitors until 1933, when German architect Bruno Taut, fleeing the Nazis, arrived in Japan as a guest of the Japan International Architecture Association and, as a renowned specialist, was allowed entry to Katsura. Taut’s enchanted account of the palace grounds made the villa instantly famous and an important referent point for 20th-century modernist architects; his report constitutes one of the book’s chapters (“It does not leave you inebriated, but something more: you savor it with the senses,” he wrote). Other contributions include architecture scholar Isozaki’s meticulous account of Katsura’s history and photographer Yoshiharu Matsumura’s meditative images of the property’s famous gardens and teahouses, as well as its gorgeous tatami interiors, not currently viewable by the public. In her introduction, architecture scholar Ponciroli writes that the enthralling nature of Katsura affected the assemblage of the book itself, “gently yet firmly guiding the minds and the hands of those who in various ways worked on it”—a feeling most apparent in Matsumura’s placid, balanced lens. Readers will be lulled by the symmetrical layouts and clear lines of one of Japan’s most Zen landmarks. (Aug.)