Just Enough: Lessons in Living Green from Traditional Japan by Azby Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
An absolutely lovely read that is infused with history while looking disapprovingly at our current consumption driven culture. The author uses the unique device of placing Edo era travelers in distinct locales, partaking in a kind of historical design survey of peasant homes, city dwelling merchant residences, and samurai estates. Using homely illustations and hand written notes alongside the main text, the book reads much like a handmade field guide. This makes it much more enjoyable than using photography of preserved architecture or rigid schematics of floor plans. The entire design contruction process in analysed, from source materials (tree conservation is an overarching theme) to transportation infrastructure. The Japanese enduring motto of “mottai nai”, a waste-not-want-not approach to daily life, is looked at in Edo life and how it can continue to play a role in modern design and contemporary life.
While Brown offers examples of Edo era urban design concepts grandfathered into our modern world and critiques where we have failed to make use of Japan’s traditional design heritage; his writing is somewhat divorced from the social-cultural dynamics of present day Japan. This one minor criticism aside, being clearly a design oriented work, “Just Enough” should leave the reader with plently of ideas for improving our cities, towns, and homes to make the most of the increasingly scarce resources we can no longer afford to take for granted.