Katachi: A Picture Book of Traditional Japanese Workmanship (Wood, Paper, Clay) Vol.1 Takeji Iwamiya

*Available only in Europe
*This book is secondhand.

Volume 1, "Wood, Paper, Clay," of Takeji Iwamiya's two-volume Katachi: The Traditional Forms of Japan (Bijutsu Shuppan-sha, 1962; text by Shuji Takashina, design by Yoshio Hayakawa). In refined monochrome and modern layout, it assembles the traditional beauty of Japanese form held in the materials of wood, paper, and clay. Quietly studying the details of folk implements, architecture, and craft, it presents the universality of "form" where use and beauty are one — celebrated as a prime example of postwar Japanese book design, where photography and graphic design fully converge.