Kazuo Shinohara, born in 1925, was one of the most influential architects in the post-war generation of Japan. First trained as a mathematician, Shinohara studied architecture under Kiyoshi Seike at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, where he returned as Assistant Professor of Architecture in 1962 and remained on faculty for the rest of his career. As well known for his philosophy of architecture as his built works, Shinohara had a profound and direct effect on Japanese architectural culture: the ‘Shinohara School’, including figures such as Kazunari Sakamoto, Itsuko Hasegawa, and Toyo Ito have continued to influence key contemporary practitioners, including Kazuo Sejima, Ryue Nishizawa, and Kengo Kuma.

Shinohara was of a similar age to many in the Metabolist group, but he deliberately resisted the Metabolist currents of the 1960s. His famous aphorism that “a house is a work of art” suggests that, counter to the Metabolists’ image of technologically driven pragmatism, domestic architecture should transcend time and practical matters. Earth House (1967) embraces this anti-metabolist groundedness with a compacted earth floor and an underground extension. The House in White (1966) is an example of the abstraction and symbolism within Shinohara’s architecture, as he explores traditional Japanese forms. Almost all of Shinohara’s 50-odd built works are detached houses, but his architectural influences extends across world. His best-known work, the Umbrella House (1961), was dismantled in 2020 and reassembled in Germany on the campus of furniture design firm Vitra.

Robin Boyd profiled Shinohara in New Directions in Japanese Architecture and corresponded with the architect about photos to be included in the book.