FOBA: Buildings

Pure. Minimal. Simple. These are the words commonly used to describe the work of contemporary Japanese architects. FOBA, an internationally celebrated architectural practice based in Kyoto, looks beyond the aesthetics of minimalism, instead finding inspiration in the relationships between structure and site. FOBA: Buildings, the first monograph on the decade-old firm, features ten projects of surprising range: undulating lines, overlapping cubes, interpenetrating forms, and unexpected pairings demonstrate a varied set of approaches to projects. The work is at times boldly expressionistic, and at others refreshingly austere.

The book also chronicles the FOB Homes system—a FOBA subsidiary company established in 1999—a uniquely creative response to the generic mass-produced pre-fabricated housing available in Japan. With five basic prototypes that can be easily adapted to any site or client, FOB Homes redefines the concept of standardized housing. Their simple, neutral white boxes counter the visual chaos of contemporary Japan and offer the elegance and experience of "architecture" to the general public—a union of modernist aesthetics with the modernist ideology of democratic, affordable design.

Together, FOBA and FOB Homes offers a look into the architecture of tomorrow. FOBA: Buildings will be an inspirational sourcebook of ideas for those interested in innovative architecture with humane ideals.