Dissecting the Danchi

"'Dissecting the Danchi' takes an unusually in-depth and insightful look behind closed doors of Japanese state-subsidised, suburban housing estates. These buildings were once the pinnacle of modernity and innovation, but the aging structures and their 'unconventional' inhabitants have long since become stigmatised and labelled as undesirable by the mainstream. The book is endlessly rich and unique in that it combines Knoroz' imaginative architectural perspective with the kind of deep ethnography that many anthropologists aspire to. A brilliant bonus lies in her unveiling of "Devicology"; a new methodology to study interior environments more effectively and positively impact on regeneration policies. This is a fascinating and much-needed study of contemporary Japanese homes that will engage readers interested in urban housing issues worldwide as well as those drawn to the complexities and ambiguities of Japanese society."

• Inge Daniels, Professor of Anthropology, University of Oxford. Author of The Japanese House, Material Culture in the Modern Home. The book is the first to trace the history of the Japanese public housing program balancing on the rarely explored edge between architecture and ethnography. In the 1960s, when Japan's postwar economy boomed, architects and urban planners inspired by Western modernism and Soviet mass-housing created danchi - clusters of uniform multi-story apartment buildings with standardized interiors, designed to shape new modernized lifestyles for populations turned into refugees by the war. Over time, as Japan's society aged and the economy began to stagnate, these structures have become a popular backdrop for contemporary horror movies and a burden for the government. In this closely researched monograph, Tatiana Knoroz sheds unexpected light on the fate of danchi's nation-transforming interiors, and proposes a multidisciplinary research method for their ongoing regeneration, which will be of interestto architects, historians and anthropologists. Tatiana Knoroz is a scholar with a special interest in Japanese housing, anthropology of lived space and built environment.

Auteur

Tatiana Knoroz is a scholar with a special interest in Japanese housing, anthropology of lived space and built environment. She spent several years in Tokyo and Kyoto researching the history of Japanese architecture and social housing and collecting fieldwork materials for her danchi project.

Résumé
The book is the first to explore the history and political significance of the Japanese public housing program. In the 1960s, as Japan's postwar economy boomed, architects and urban planners inspired equally by Western modernism and Soviet ideas of housing as a basic right created new cityscapes to house populations turned into refugees by the war. Over time, as Japan's society aged and the economy began to stagnate, these structures have become a burden on society. In this closely researched monograph on the conditions of Japanese housing, Tatiana Knoroz sheds unexpected light on the rise and fall of the idea of social democracy in Japan which will be of interest to historians, architects, and scholars of Asian economic modernization.

Contenu

Chapter 1. The Birth of the Concrete Box. - Chapter 2. The Refugees of the Lost Decades. - Chapter 3. Re-positioning Ethnography in Architecture