From his office in Kobe, Shimada has formed a wonderful, loose flowing style, allowing his houses a wonderful humanity. This is the first monograph, and documents 22 houses, all in Japan but one, in Australia.. He incorporates very new materials, with very traditional forms, shed and such. "I want to create space that acts as a margin for everyday life. It should serve as a background. There’s no point in architecture being the centre. If it is, people would get tired of it." -Shimada