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BOOK TALK: The Making of The Critical House

Name: BOOK TALK: The Making of The Critical House
Start: 2025-03-27T19:00:00+09:00
End: 2025-03-27T21:00:00+09:00
Location: Lutron Asuka Co., Ltd.

March 27 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Free

A lecture and discussion exploring the research and editorial process behind the book “The Critical House: Words of 20 Contemporary Architects (Shokokusha, 2024). See description below!

Doors open at 6:45pm. Events starts at 7:00pm. Light refreshments will be provided afterwards!

In-Person: Register here via Peatix
Call-in remotely via Zoom: Zoom Link

Event Description:

This lecture will explore the research and editorial process behind The Critical House: The Words of 20 Contemporary Architects (Shokokusha, 2024). The newly released book, entitled in Japanese 住宅は、批評する, “Houses Criticize,” reflects on the post-WWII concept of “criticality” in the architecture of Japanese houses and its evolving role since the turn of the 21st century.How did criticality become a precondition for the design of a single-family house? What sparked the turn away from it? The Critical House unpacks the initial debates within the architecture scene of the 1990s at the juncture between the “critical” and “post-critical” eras.

This change in spirit was encapsulated by architect Toyo Ito’s own position over two decades: In the context of postwar societal overhaul in the 1970’s Ito stated, “For me, to design is to criticize.” At that time, architects were embroiled in both designing houses as a mode of critique and also in deploying critical discourse to strategically position these built works, maneuvering as if waging war on an intellectual battlefield.

By the 1990’s this ethos of criticality in design was called into question, exemplified by Ito’s essay subtitled, “Is a House Without Criticality Possible?” (1998). This shift in attitude reflects a broader inquiry into the evolving relationship between housing, contemporary architecture, and society at large.

Discussions of criticality have waned in recent years, but what have replaced them?

This book was born out of a concern that architectural discourse has lost its theoretical foundations—foundations essential to understanding the discipline’s role in creative practice and society today. But through the making of this book, speaking candidly and casually with a young generation of practitioners, a vibrant if more subtle form of criticality in contemporary practice has revealed itself.

— The Editors

Speaker Profiles

Mohammad Eimar

Eimar is an architect leading design projects at KKAA (Kengo Kuma and Associates). He obtained degrees from the University of Jordan (BSc, 2012) and Tokyo Tech (MEng, 2019) through MEXT scholarship. His work critically engages with architecture and research.

Masaru Otsuka

Otsuka is an architect and researcher serving as an Assistant Professor at Institute of Science Tokyo. He obtained degrees from Tokyo Tech (BEng, 2012; MEng, 2016) and the Mendrisio Academy of Architecture (MArch, 2015). He has received multiple awards, including the Good Design Award (2021).

Koshiro Ogura

Ogura is an architect and researcher focusing on architectural drawings and archival materials. He obtained degrees in architecture from Tokyo Tech (BEng, 2019; MEng, 2021) and was an Academic Guest at ETH Zürich (2022-2023). He is currently working on the Kazuo Shinohara retrospective at TOTO Gallery MA.