The title of this volume offers a clue as to the approach that Tokyo-based architect Hideyuki Nakayama takes in his practice. The fraction equates to one billionth, and the book’s cover is a diagram of the distance between the earth and the moon. With this realisation, a vector extending from a 10,000-kilometre diameter sphere is instantly traced from the reader’s position. In the architectural world, fractions of this sort are called scales. They magically enable us to move freely in our minds among worlds of various sizes. Interweaving math concepts, history’s great thinkers, and his own projects, Nakayama contemplates this dynamic between something little, yet big.

The title of this volume offers a clue as to the approach that Tokyo-based architect Hideyuki Nakayama takes in his practice. The fraction equates to one billionth, and the book’s cover is a diagram of the distance between the earth and the moon. With this realisation, a vector extending from a 10,000-kilometre diameter sphere is instantly traced from the reader’s position. In the architectural world, fractions of this sort are called scales. They magically enable us to move freely in our minds among worlds of various sizes. Interweaving math concepts, history’s great thinkers, and his own projects, Nakayama contemplates this dynamic between something little, yet big.