Metabolist School of Architecture

In 1959 a group of Japanese architects and city planners joined forces under the name 'the Metabolists'. Their vision of a city of the future inhabited by a mass society was characterised by large scale, flexible and extendable structures that enable an organic growth process.

In their view the traditional laws of form and function were obsolete. They believed that the laws of space and functional transformation held the future for society and culture.

Famous projects included the floating city in the sea (Unabara project), K. Kikutake's tower city, the wall city, the agricultural city and the 'Helix City' by Kisho Kurokawa.

Japanese Metabolists

 Living in a capsule (Akira Shibuya 1966, Youji Watanabe 1967, Kisho Kurokawa 1970-72)  Mega city planning for Tokyo (Kenzo Tange and Kisho Kikutake 1960)

Western Emulators

 Habitat Montréal (Moshe Safdie 1967)  Funnel city 'Intrapolis' (Walter Jonas 1960)  Space city (Yona Friedman 1959-63)  Overbuilding the city of Ragnitz (Günther Domenig 1963-69)  Swimming Hotel Kairo (Justus Dahinden 1972)  Akro-Polis leisure city (Justus Dahinden 1974)  Leisure city Kiryat Ono near Tel Aviv (Justus Dahinden 1984)

The unity of pop and machine: Archigram

 Plug-in-City, Living Pod and Capsule Tower (Peter Cook 1964-66)  Walking City and Instant City (Ron Herron 1964-70)  Trickling Towers and Layer City (Peter Cook 1978-82)

1 Kurokawa Kisho (in Japanese, family name first: Kurokawa Kishō; born April 8, 1934) is a famous Japanese architect and one of the founders of the Metabolism Movement.

He was born in Nagoya, Aichi in 1934. He studied at Kyoto University, graduating with a bachelor's degree from the Department of Architecture in 1957. He continued his studies at Tokyo University School of Architecture under the guidance of Tange Kenzo, achieving a master's degree in 1959 and a doctoral degree in 1964.

Together with some colleagues, he founded the Metabolism Movement in 1960; its members were known as Metabolists. It was a radical Japanese avant-garde movement pursuing the merging and recycling of architecture styles around an Asian philosophy. The movement was very successful, peaking when its members received praise for the Takara Beautillion at the Osaka World Expo 1970. However, the group broke up shortly thereafter.

Kurokawa has a daughter from his first marriage, who works in the area of landscape architecture. His second marriage is to Wakao Ayako (in Japanese, family name first: 若尾文子), an actress with some notable films in the 1950s and 1960s. Kurokawa's younger brother works in industrial design, but has also cooperated with Kurokawa on some architecture projects.

Kurokawa is the founder and President of Kisho Kurokawa Architect & Associates, established on 8 April 1962. The company has its head office in Tokyo, and branch offices in Osaka, Nagoya, Kazakhstan, Kuala Lumpur and Beijing. The company is registered with the Japanese Government as a First Class Architects Office.

(sorted by the year of completion)

Works during the 1970s

 Nakagin Capsule Tower (Ginza, Tokyo, 1970-1972)  Sony Tower (Osaka, 1972-1976)  Tateshina Planetarium (Hiroshima, 1976)  Headquarters of the Japanese Red Cross Society (Tokyo, 1975-1977)  National Museum of Ethnology (Osaka, 1973-1977)

Works during the 1980s

 Saitama Prefectural Museum of Modern Art (Saitama, 1978-1982)  National Bunraku Theater (Osaka, 1979-1983)  Wacoal Kojimachi Building (Tokyo, 1982-1984)  Chokaso (Tokyo, 1985-1987)  Nagoya City Art Museum (Nagoya, 1983-1987)  Japanese-German Center of Berlin (Berlin, 1985-1988)  Osaka Prefectural Government Offices (Osaka, 1988)  Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art (Hiroshima, 1988-1989)

2 Works during the 1990s

 Chinese-Japanese Youth Center (Beijing, 1987-1990)  Okinawa Prefectural Government Headquarters (Okinawa, 1988-1990)  The Sporting Club at Illinois Center (Chicago, 1987-1990)  Melbourne Central (Melbourne, Australia, 1986-1991)  Miki House New Office Building (Osaka, 1985-1991)  Nara City Museum of Photography (Nara, 1989-1991)  Louvain-La-Neuve Museum (Belgium, 1990-1992)  Pacific Tower (Paris, France, 1988-1992)  Lane Crawford Place (Singapore, 1990-1993)  Senkantei (Hyogo, 1992-1993)  Ehime Museum of Science (Ehime, 1991-1994)  Ishibashi Junior High School (Tochigi, 1992-1994)  The Museum of Modern Art Wakayama/Wakayama Prefectural Museum (Wakayama, 1990-1994)  Hotel Kyocera (Kagoshima, 1991-1995)  Kibi-cho City Hall/Kibi Dome (Wakayama, 1993-1995)  Republic Plaza (Singapore, 1986-1995)  Fukui City Museum of Art (Fukui, 1993-1996)  Softopia Japan (Gifu, 1990-1996)  Fujinomiya Golf Club (Shizuoka, 1994-1997)  Kashima-machi City Hall (Kumamoto, 1995-1997)  Shiga Kogen Roman Art Museum (Yamanouchi, 1994-1997)  Kuala Lumpur International Airport (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1992-1998)  New Wing of the Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1990-1998)  Amber Hall (Kuji, 1996-1999)  O_Residence (Tokyo, 1997-1999)

Works from 2000 onward

 Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum (Katsuyama, 1996-2000)  Osaka International Convention Center (Osaka, 1994-2000)  Oita Stadium (Oita, 1996-2001, used for the Football World Cup 2002)  Toyota City Stadium (Toyota City, 1997-2001)  Astana International Airport (Astana, Kazakhstan 2000-2003)  National Gallery in Tokyo (Roppongi, Tokyo, 2000-2005)  Singapore Flyer (Singapore, 2005-2008)  Design and Master Plan of Kazakhstan's New Capital (Astana, Kazakhstan, delayed due to budget problems)