Arata Isozaki

Presented by : Aarti Saxena B. Arch 4

Biography
born July 23, 1931, Oita, Kyushu, Japan Japanese avant-garde architect. He studied at the University of Tokyo and opened his own studio in 1963.

His first notable building is the Oita Prefectural Library (1966), which shows the influence of the Metabolist school.
In his later works, which often synthesize Eastern and Western elements, he used bold geometric forms and frequently made historical allusions. Among his innovative structures are the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (1986) and Art Tower (1990) in Mito, Japan.

Biography

Japanese architect, teacher and theorist. One of the leading architects of his generation, he became an influential proponent of the avant-garde conceptual approach to architecture that characterized the New Wave in Japan in the 1970s and after . He studied at the University of Tokyo under Kenzo Tange and after graduating (1954) he worked for Kenzo Tange & Urtec until 1963. From 1960 Isozaki began to develop his own practice Medical Center (1960) and Oita Prefectural Library (1966) as an architectural designer , and then as a theorist, loosely associated with Japanese Metabolism and creating projects as his 'Ruin Future City' and 'Clusters in the Air' (both 1962). His first large public commission was the Oita branch of the Fukuoka Mutual Bank, completed in 1967. Other important public works followed , buildings as the Gunma Prefectural Museum of Modern Art (1971-4), Takasaki; the Kitakyushu City Museum of Art (1972-4); the Kitakyushu Municipal Central Library (1972-5); and the West Japan General Exhibition Center (1977), Kitakyushu.

Other works
1986/92 - The New Brooklyn Museum, New York, U.S.A. 1987/89 - Bond University: Administration/Library/Humanities, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia 1987/90 - Team Disney building, Florida, U.S.A. 1987/90 - Kita-kyushu Unternational Conference Center, Fukuoka, Japan 1990/94 - The Center of Japanese Art and Technology in Krakw, Poland 1991/95 - Toyonokuni Libralies for Cultural Resources, Oita, Japan 1991/95 - Kyoto Concert Hall, Kyoto, Japan 1991/95 - B-con Plaza, Oita, Japan 1993/95 - DOMUS: La Casa del Hombre (Interactive Museum about Humans), La Corua, Spain 1993/96 - Okayama West Police Station, Okayama, Japan 1992/98 - Nara Centennial Hall, Nara, Japan 1993/98 - Higashi Shizuoka Cultural Complex Project, Shizuoka, Japan 1995/98 - Akiyoshidai International Arts Village, Yamaguchi, Japan 1996/02 - Ceramics Park MINO, Gifu, Japan 1997/03 - Ymaguchi Center for Arts and Media, Yamaguchi, Japan 1998 - Shenzen Cultural Center, China

Kyoto Concert Hall

Team Disney Building, Florida

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

Art Tower , Mito

PHILOSOPHY
His style was combining Japanese sensibility with Western post-modernism.
He has employed complex asymmetrical forms, innovatively juxtaposed materials and used sophisticated technologies.

Influences:The New Wave Movement

In the earlier days, he was identified with Metabolism. Metabolism developed in Postwar Japan when in 1959, a group of Japanese architects and city planners had a vision for future cities that enabled organic growth. This scheme aimed to create radical solutions for restructuring Tokyo's rapid and uncontrolled post war growth. As a theorist, Arata was loosely associated with Japanese metabolism. He proposed concepts like Ruin City and Clusters in the air.

Key Metabolists:
Kiyonori Kikutake, Fumihiko Maki, Masato Otaka, Kisho Kurokawa and Kiyoshi Awazu

A plug-in city

The laws of space and functional transformation hold the future for society and culture

Kikutake city

JOINT CORE SYSTEM

Isozaki proposed for a multilevel urban construction above the city. Massive pylons supported elevated transportation, housing, and office systems as well as parks and walkways,

The City In Air or Joint Core System

Isozaki proposed round columns that permitted growth in any direction, instead of a square support system limits expansion to four directions,

Cluster City 1960-62

The concept of the clusters was to develop a new way to structure housing around Tokyo. The Cluster represent leaves from trees which are the housing units and the core represents the trunk of the tree.

MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ARTS, LOS ANGELES, ARATA ISOZAKI, 1981-86

MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ARTS, LOS ANGELES, ARATA ISOZAKI, 1981-86

 The building built around a terraced

courtyard
Under the courtyard, galleries lead into each other from left to right.

Above the courtyard, only the

administration section stands out with a roof in the shape of a semicircular dome

MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ARTS, LOS ANGELES, ARATA ISOZAKI, 1981-86

 Exterior a natural reddish colored stone, contrasting with the

transparent skylights and the luster

of the semi-cylindrical roof of the offices.

Volumetrically pure shapes - various

pyramids and a series of linear skylights

MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ARTS, LOS ANGELES, ARATA ISOZAKI, 1981-86

The whole building is constructed in concrete with regular glass fenestrations TEAM DISNEY BUILDING, FLORIDA, ARATA ISOZAKI, 1989-90

TEAM DISNEY BUILDING, FLORIDA, ARATA ISOZAKI,

1989-90
The Team Disney Building serves as the office for IT personnel of the Walt Disney Corporation. Won a prestigious National Honor Award from the AIA in 1992.

Architect responds to context - amusement park by using warm colors both inside and outside the building

Building is symmetrical about a central cylinder

The oddly looped gateway suggests gigantic Mickey Mouse ears The entrance to the sundial is similarly shaped

TEAM DISNEY BUILDING, FLORIDA, ARATA ISOZAKI, 1989-90

Isozaki designed this playful entrance that lives up to the clients requirement of entertainment architecture.

LARGEST SUNDIAL IN THE WORLD

To capture the essence of the sunshine state, Isozaki designed a large , colourful sundial to rise out dramatically from the centre of the building.

Isozaki wanted the architecture to make a statement about time since the offices were to be used by timeconscious executives.

THE TIME THEME

The courtyard also acts as a central atrium and houses a Japanese rock garden.

He coupled two office wings with a long gray big carnival color tower in the center as a large funnel pointing to the sky.

Conclusions..
Born and educated in Japan, Arata Isozaki often integrates Eastern ideas into his designs.For example, Isozaki wanted to express a yinyang theory of positive and negative space when he designed the Team Disney Building in Orlando, Florida Isozaki's "style" has in fact been a series of modes that have come as a response to these influences. As a young architect he was identified with Metabolism, a movement founded in Japan in 1960. However, Isozaki minimized his connections to this group, seeing the Metabolist style as overly utilitarian in tone. In the 1970s Isozaki's architecture became more historical in its orientation, suggesting a connection with the burgeoning postmodern movement of Europe and the United States. His sources included classical Western architects, especially Andrea Palladio, tienne-Louis Boulle, and Claude-Nicolas Ledoux.

Thank you