ABSTRACT
In 1978, landing in Tokyo late in the evening, and taken straight to the traditional house near the Yushima Shrine owned by the Japan Architect magazine company, it felt like being in a movie. The sultry, steamy evening, the sound of crickets hardly filtered by the paper screens: wonderful, exotic, just right. Even if author's aching back was not so sure about sleeping on the traditional tatami mats. It was of course Arata Isozaki who had engineered the invitation by the Japan Foundation, and his task during the first five days was to choose the winners of that year’s Shinkenchiku House Competition out of the 500 entries. Japanese protocol was tested on his third visit, in 1987, as a finalist in the Kawasaki Information City competition. The deal included six nights in Kawasaki for Hazel and himself – with his presentation on the morning of the second day.
