Please note: In order to keep Hive up to date and provide users with the best features, we are no longer able to fully support Internet Explorer. The site is still available to you, however some sections of the site may appear broken. We would encourage you to move to a more modern browser like Firefox, Edge or Chrome in order to experience the site fully.

Supporting your high street Find out how »
The Metabolist Imagination : Visions of the City in Postwar Japanese Architecture and Science Fiction, Paperback / softback Book

The Metabolist Imagination : Visions of the City in Postwar Japanese Architecture and Science Fiction Paperback / softback

Paperback / softback

Only a few left - usually despatched within 24 hours

Description

Japan’s postwar urban imagination through the Metabolism architecture movement and visionary science fiction authors  The devastation of the Second World War gave rise to imaginations both utopian and apocalyptic.

In Japan, a fascinating confluence of architects and science fiction writers took advantage of this space to begin remaking urban design.

In The Metabolist Imagination, William O. Gardner explores the unique Metabolism movement, which allied with science fiction authors to foresee the global cities that would emerge in the postwar era. This first comparative study of postwar Japanese architecture and science fiction builds on the resurgence of interest in Metabolist architecture while establishing new directions for exploration.

Gardner focuses on how these innovators created unique versions of shared concepts—including futurity, megastructures, capsules, and cybercities—making lasting contributions that resonate with contemporary conversations around cyberpunk, climate change, anime, and more. The Metabolist Imagination features original documentation of collaborations between giants of postwar Japanese art and architecture, such as the landmark 1970 Osaka Expo.

It also provides the most sustained English-language discussion to date of the work of Komatsu Sakyo, considered one of the “big three” authors of postwar Japanese science fiction.

These studies are underscored by Gardner’s insightful approach—treating architecture as a form of speculative fiction while positioning science fiction as an intervention into urban design—making it a necessary read for today’s visionaries.

Information

Other Formats

Save 9%

£22.99

£20.85

Only a few left - usually despatched within 24 hours
Add to Basket
Sign in to add to wishlist
 
Free Home Delivery

on all orders

 
Pick up orders

from local bookshops

Information