The Japanese House: Architecture and Life Since 1945 Opens at MAXXI Rome

The first Italian exhibition focused entirely on Japanese private housing, 'The Japanese House: Architecture and Life Since 1945', opened at MAXXI Rome, curated by Pippo Ciorra, Kenjiro Hosaka, Florence Ostende, and Yoshiharu Tsukamoto. The show features over eighty selected works including drawings, models, photographs, videos, interviews, films, and manga, with a custom design by Atelier Bow-Wow. It explores three themes: tradition versus innovation (with works by Kenzo Tange, Kikutake, SANAA, Toyo Ito), continuity of Japanese culture (Shirai, Sakamoto, Kengo Kuma), and the domestic space as key to urban metabolism (Shinoara, Ryue Nishizawa, Sou Fujimoto). The exhibition runs until February 26, 2017, then travels to Barbican Centre London (March 23–June 25) and Museum of Modern Art Tokyo (summer). In Rome, full-scale models include Toyo Ito's White U interior, a section of Itsuko Hasegawa's house facade, and Shigeru Ban's UNHR emergency unit. Special events featured lectures by Toyo Ito (January 14) and Kazuyo Sejima with Ryue Nishizawa (January 28). Concurrently, 'Architettura Invisibile' at Museo Carlo Bilotti (until March 26) compares Italian and Japanese radical avant-gardes of the 1960s-70s, with works by Arata Isozaki, Archizoom, Superstudio, and contemporary firms.