Masato otaka biography of christopher

An example of Group Form: 'Neutral Buildings used in the Formation of Place.' Fumihiko Maki

Columns that are cruciform in section are connected via cruciform capitals to an open-ended grid of precast, prestressed beams.

The square grid forms the basic planning unit and is used to create spaces of different scales in a relaxed, free-flowing plan that can grow incrementally in all directions. Founded by a group of ambitious young architects intent on challenging the status quo and thus establishing their own presence among the international congress of leading architects, the movement's core group included the architects Kiyonori Kikutake, Fumihiko Maki, and Kisho Kurokawa, all of whom later enjoyed enduring international reputations.

Tange's "City for 10 Million People" (1960), to be built along a series of looped roadways stretching across Tokyo Bay, was a direct response to his proteges' work. For Kurokawa, Metabolism began as an organizing device, emphasizing structure, which allowed him to build some of its most successful buildings a decade later.

The comparisons between Archigram and the Metabolists are superficially easy, but whereas Archigram continued to publish increasingly preposterous and charming proposals throughout the 1960s, the Metabolists used their newly established reputations to snag large-scale commissions and quickly became distracted from generating additional futuristic sketches.

Kurokawa produced the greatest range, from the Odakyu Drive-In Restaurant (1969) to the movement's most convincing commercial work, the Nakagin Capsule Building (1972), where shipping containers were modified for habitation and attached to core towers with only four bolts apiece. Kikutake and Maki also had major commissions for the subsequent 1975 Okinawa Ocean Expo; Kikutake's Aquapolis, a remarkable pavilion floated just off shore, became a poignant symbol for the movement, unattainable and slowly rusting until it was scrapped at the end of the 20th century.

Tange, Kikutake, and Kurokawa have each returned to their Metabolist beginnings in designs produced in the 1980s and 1990s. However, The Osaka Exposition came a scant three years after the 1967 Montreal Expo and suffered by comparison. In a series of short posts I will feature some of the selected works that I have had the chance to visit and photograph.

John Barr
 

• john barr
• Jul 28, 2021
• 2 min read

Updated: Apr 20, 2023

Do|Co|Mo|Mo is an international organisation dedicated to the Documentation and Conservation of buildings, sites and neighbourhoods of the Modern Movement.

And many of the challenges that Metabolists took on—overcrowding, tremendous traffic congestion, and the immobility of Japanese society—remain today, yet to be adequately addressed by the professional community.

 

DANA BUNTROCK

Sennott R.S. Encyclopedia of twentieth century architecture, Vol.2 (G-O). 1

1964　Office & Hall of ALL JAPAN Seaman’s Union

1967　Chiba Prefectural Culture Centre

1968　Sakaide Artificial Ground
Chiba Prefectural Central Library

1969　Hiroshima Motomachi Apartment

1972　Chiba Prefectural Art Museum

1979　Yokohama City Center Waterfront Redevelopment Project [Minato Mirai 21]

1980　Doho Park Gymnasium

1984　Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art

2003　Miharu Community Center/Mahora Hall

Past Exhibitions in NAMA

• Uniting Architecture and Society : The Approach of OTAKA Masato, 2016
• Recent Acquisitions and Collection Highlights 2017, 2017
  Contents Kataoka Agricultural Cooperative Building (1962), Goshomi Agricultural Cooperative Building (1964), Hanaizumi Agricultural Cooperative Building (1965), Yamauchi Agricultural Cooperative Building (1966), Niihama Agricultural Cooperative Building (1967), Nangocho Agricultural Cooperative Building (1968), Shizuoka Agricultural Cooperative Center (1970).
• Collection Showcase 2018 From Architecture to Urbanism 1945-1970 : Perspectives on Urban Design in the Postwar Era, 2018
  Contents Chiba Forst of Culture (1965), Ube Tokiwa Park (1961)
• Museums by Japanese Architects 1940s -1980s: Origins and Trajectories, 2020
  Contents Chiba Prefectural Museum of Art (1974), Gunma Prefectural Museum of History (1979)
• Designing Home : Masterpiece Houses from NAMA’s Collection 1940-1975, 2021
  Contents Sakaide Artificial Ground (1968)
• Kodomonokuni：Children’s Land -Nature, Future and Metabolism Architecture [Concurrent exhibition] NAMA’s Recent Collections, 2022
  Contents Children’s Hostel (1964)

ALL 

METABOLISTS

OVERVIEW / GALLERY / ARCHITECTS / BUILDINGS / MORE

 

 

OVERVIEW

The Metabolist movement emerged at the Tokyo meeting of the 1960 World Design Conference (an epilogue to the Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne [CIAM, 1927-]), with the proposal that architecture should not only embrace new technologies and the enormous scales of the post-war period but also develop living, self-generating systems that could adapt over time. Major Works （*：Mayekawa Kunio Associates, Architects ＆Engineers） 1958　Harumi High-Rise Apartment* 1960　Shinjuku Subcenter Project（with MAKI Fumihiko） 1961　Tokyo Metropolitan Festival Hall* 1963　Entry for Kyoto International Conference Center Competition Murai Gakuen Bldg. Although the leisure industry often most willingly embraces innovation, critics questioned the appropriateness of producing theoretic works for this market. The 1970 Osaka Exposition appeared most in sync with a movement based on the idea of an architecture adaptable to change; many of the designers present in Metabolism's early days were involved, including Kikutake, Kurokawa, Tange, and Isozaki. Several of Metabolism's key works from this period were for leisure facilities, a match that would seem on the surface appropriate; Kurokawa designed a lodge and a theme-based amusement complex, whereas Kikutake designed hotels for the domestic tourism industry. Arata Isozaki, working for Tange during the same period, was also identified with the movement, but he took a darker view, reflected in his sketches of brutal concrete towers rising from ruins. The original Metabolists' relative lack of professional experience was reflected in their audaciously futuristic proposals. This post features the Chiba Prefectural Central Library located in Chiba City, completed in 1968 and designed by Masato Otaka... Otaka was one of the Metabolist group featured in my post dated 29 June 2018 but, along with Fumihiko Maki, had never been fully committed to the planning strategies pursued by the rest of the group. He contributed to the planning and development of Tama New Town and Yokohama Minato Mirai. The Japanese branch has selected 100 works as representative of the development of the Modern Movement in Japan. He led the architectural industry, government, and public corporations not only in architecture but also in the area of urban design. Brian hill aritzia biography samples Yordanka kuzmanova biography templates Hermann nitsch biography sample Ali omar ermes biography sample