Eco Living Japan. Deanna MacDonald

      Wabi sabi aesthetics meet Bohemian design in A1 Architects’ A1 House in Prague (page 222).

      More concretely, historians point to the aftermath of the Second World War. One million people were homeless and structures were quickly and shoddily rebuilt. By the 1960s, as Japan began to recover economically, these structures were torn down and replaced, in a cycle some say continues today.

      Geography also plays a part. Japan’s frequent earthquakes contribute to the sense of impermanence related to housing as traditional wooden buildings were often destroyed by a quake or in post-quake fires. The steady advance of seismic technology has led to shifting building codes. Since the Great Kanto Quake in 1923, building codes have been revamped after every major earthquake: in 1950, 1971, 1981, 1987 and, most recently, 2011.

      However, most homes demolished today do meet the latest standards. Nevertheless, building companies, particularly since 2011, advertise their high seismic standards and encourage the demolition of older ‘dangerous’ houses in favor of new ‘safe’ ones. Some call this ‘fear selling’, and not necessarily based on structural safety. The highly profitable construction industry in Japan has evolved on the basis of this scrap-and-build system. Just how, and if, this system can be changed remains to be seen.

      And, of course, construction comes at an environmental cost. Building in the developed world produces over 40 percent of carbon emissions worldwide and 40 percent of energy consumption. About 50 percent of raw material goes into building, and waste from the construction industry is adding to an already overburdened disposable and recycling systems.

      The economist Richard Coup has called Japan’s scrap-and-build housing industry an “obstacle to affluence”. The cycle means that buying a house is not an investment as it is in most developed countries. This economic factor also makes it even more difficult to convince builders to invest in more sustainable homes. Yet, there are those who are willing to try. Every project in this book is exceptional and represents the growing number of forward-thinking homeowners, designers and craftspeople who are placing their architectural bets on a more sustainable future. The projects explore innovative and beautiful houses in Japan and abroad that push design and technology in new and old ecological directions.

      Chapter 1 considers how bringing nature into the home can make it a healthier, happier and more sustainable living environment. From Yasushi Horibe’s framing of nature in the House in Tateshina to the link between house and landscape in Uemachi Laboratory’s House in Nara, all projects suggest that nature offers answers to green building issues.

      Chapter 2 considers how traditional Japanese architecture is helping reinvent the houses of the twenty-first century. Lessons on how to live more sustainably are taken from a myriad of sources, from the architecture of the Ainu people (Kengo Kuma’s Même Meadows) and an Edo-era aristocratic villa (Edward Suzuki’s House of Maples in Karuizawa) to a rural farmhouse (Lambiasi + Hayashi’s Mini Step House).

      Chapter 3 looks at ‘smart’ houses that aim to make the home as resource-efficient as possible through innovative high- and low-tech design, from Atelier Tekuto’s experiments with modern materials to create energy efficiency in the A-Ring House to the passive energy principles of Key Architects’ House in Karuizawa.

      Chapter 4 looks at repurposed buildings and renovation projects that demonstrate how old buildings anywhere can be recreated as contemporary, stylish and sustainable, from a dilapidated merchant townhouse in Kyoto turned luxury residence to an old rural farm house given a new life for a young family.

      Chapter 5 looks outside Japan for buildings inspired by Japan’s eco traditions, from a townhouse in urban Toronto to a forest retreat in Norway and a wabi sabi house in Prague.

      The Future

      Today, particularly since the disasters of March 2011, an ever-growing interest in sustainable living has made environmental design one of the most discussed topics in Japan. Designers, architects and homeowners are reappraising the naturally ‘green’ qualities of historic Japanese architecture and exploring how it can work with emerging sustainable technology. With this unique mix of past and present, tradition and technology and love of fine craftsmanship and innovation, Japan is in many ways a natural leader in eco architecture. The houses and ideas presented in this book suggest just how Japan could become an international model of sustainability.

      Yet, to expand these ideas from individual projects to society at large, political will, far-sighted legislation, corporate compliance and economic investment are needed. Voluntary standards and certification schemes to measure sustainability in the built environment, such as LEED (Leadership in Engineering and Environmental Design) in the USA, BREEAM (Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method) in the UK and CASBEE (Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency) in Japan, all attempt to guide builders into good practices. None are mandatory but grow in influence.

      The upcoming 2020 Olympics in Tokyo are expected to bring environmental issues forward. The 1964 Olympics in Tokyo were considered a watershed, transforming post-war Tokyo into a model of modern urbanism, albeit a 1964 model. Many hope 2020 will be just as transforming, readdressing Tokyo’s unsustainable development of the past decades. There are proposed plans to reduce car traffic by completing ring roads, to improve the visual landscape by burying the tangle of wires that hover over almost every street and even to remove the elevated highways from above Nihonbashi, the center of historic Tokyo, that were built in the rush to prepare for the 1964 Games, and to increase the use of renewable energy in Tokyo from 6 to 20 percent by 2020.

      Many of the houses in this book are built with modern materials and techniques, yet all express some aspect of the traditional dynamics of Japanese architectural space and sensibilities. This desire to connect to a more sustainable past to build a more sustainable future is growing, particularly among younger generations who have grown up in dense urbanism and for whom old ways are intriguingly new. But as society turns green, will the wider construction industry follow? Japan builds some of the most advanced, seismically sound buildings in the world. Can it start to build some of the most sustainable? With a built heritage that is a model of sustainability, a recent history that is not and a new generation concerned for the future, Japan has choices to make. As shown by the projects, houses and homeowners in this book, Japan has the tools needed to lead the way internationally to a more sustainable built environment. The question remains, will it?