Point Line Plane
WW Norton · Hardcover · October 8, 2024
Ostensibly a collection of writing that sets out Kengo Kuma's theories of architecture, but also an antivolume, antimegastructure, and in some sense anticapitalist, left-field critique of where the architecture world finds itself today.
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- Who it’s for
- Kuma’s mini essays question monumental architecture and imagine buildings that touch the earth lightly.
- Themes
- Architectural theory, Critique of contemporary architecture, Light-touch, adaptable architecture
- Pacing
- Reflective
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Start with this bookAbout this book
Ostensibly a collection of writing that sets out Kengo Kuma's theories of architecture, but also an antivolume, antimegastructure, and in some sense anticapitalist, left-field critique of where the architecture world finds itself today. Point Line Plane is architectural theory, but written as narrative, full of intriguing vignettes, such as the fact that in Ancient Rome windows were fitted with slices of marble because glass was so expensive.
Continue reading
It's written in a very Japanese form: a series of mini essays that circle around a theme and is aimed at a highly literate audience. Seventy-two related essays across four sections set out Kuma's rejection of the architecture of volume and mass that categorized the twentieth century in favor of a more ad hoc architecture that can be easily disassembled and, by drawing on tried and tested practices of the past, touch the earth more lightly.
Architecture Without Mass
Kuma’s mini essays question monumental architecture and imagine buildings that touch the earth lightly.
Come here for
- Architectural theory told through narrative and historical vignettes
- A critique of twentieth-century architecture’s volume and mass
Expect
- Seventy-two related essays across four sections
- An argument for adaptable buildings that can be disassembled
Where it sits
| Why Buildings Look That Way | 84% |
|---|---|
| Architectural Essays | 27% |
| Sustainable & Green Design | 24% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Why Buildings Look That Way
- History of Architecture
- Architectural Essays
- Authors
- Kengo Kuma
- Publisher
- WW Norton
- Published
- October 8, 2024
- Format
- Hardcover
- Theme
- Architectural theory · Critique of contemporary architecture · Light-touch, adaptable architecture
- Reading lane
- Why Buildings Look That Way