On the morning of September 11, 2001, two hijacked commercial jetliners struck the Twin Towers in Lower Manhattan, a third plane struck the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed in rural Pennsylvania. A total of 2.977 people were killed in the terrorist attacks. In the face of this unprecedented loss, the city of New York promised to rebuild Lower Manhattan as a lively neighborhood while honoring and maintaining the memory of this day. Thus began one of the largest reconstruction projects in New York City, a process that is still ongoing now, 23 years after the tragedy.
"A bathroom is a place where everyone is equal—there is no rich or poor, no old or young; everyone is part of humanity." This reflection was shared by Wim Wenders, exponent of New German Cinema and director of the filmPerfect Days (2023) when asked about the striking sets of his most recent work. Wenders selected Tokyo's public restrooms to craft a narrative that deeply explores themes of solitude, simplicity, and the beauty of everyday life.
The story follows Hirayama, a middle-aged man working as a public toilet cleaner in Tokyo. His life is simple and routine, yet filled with small pleasures and moments of reflection. This modest lifestyle contrasts with the technological, colorful, and innovative designs of the public restrooms he cleans every day.
via Flickr user jeanbaptisteparis licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 | Fumihiko Maki at MIT Media Lab, 2010.
Esteemed Japanese architect and Pritzker Prize laureateFumihiko Maki passed away at his Tokyo home last Thursday at the age of 95. Celebrated for his modernist approach, Maki was responsible for significant works, including the 4 World Trade Center, a skyscraper at the site of the former World Trade Center in New York. Maki was recognized in the architecture industry various times, including receiving the Pritzker Prize and becoming the 67th AIA Gold Medalist. His influence in inventing a unique modernist style of Japanese origin cannot be underscored.
Last week, Japanese architect and social advocate Riken Yamamoto was announced as the 2024 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate, becoming the 9th Japanese architect honored with the profession’s most prestigious award. Throughout the 45-year history of the Pritzker Prize, Japan stands out as the nation with the highest number of laureates. While geography is not a criterion in the selection of the laureates, Japanese architecture consistently impresses with its interplay of light and shadow, the careful composition of spaces, soft transitions between interior and exterior, and attention to detail and materiality. An ingrained culture of building also celebrates diverse designs and encourages global dialogue and the exchange of ideas and best practices. Read on to rediscover the 9 Japanese Pritzker laureates and glimpse into their body of work.
The Pritzker Prize is the most important award in the field of architecture, awarded to a living architect whose built work "has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity through the art of architecture." The Prize rewards individuals, not entire offices, as took place in 2000 (when the jury selected Rem Koolhaas instead of his firm OMA) or in 2016 (with Alejandro Aravena selected instead of Elemental); however, the prize can also be awarded to multiple individuals working together, as took place in 2001 (Herzog & de Meuron), 2010 (Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA), and 2017 (Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem, and Ramon Vilalta of RCR Arquitectes).
One of the world's leading metropolises, Tokyo is home to extraordinary architecture that fascinates through its blend of traditional values and high-tech expression. The 1923 earthquake and the bombardments of World War II dramatically influenced the image of the city and its architecture, giving rise to modern urban environments with complex infrastructure.
The Japanese capital constitutes the most populated metropolitan area in the world, housing 33 million inhabitants. Divided into 23 wards and numerous neighbourhoods, the city features a diverse blend of atmospheres and urban fabrics that support an amalgamation of architectural typologies.
This year, architecture’s highest honor, the Pritzker Prize, has been granted to Grafton Architects, a Dublin-based architectural firm mainly ran by female partners Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara. For the first time ever in its 42-year history, due to the constraints set by Covid-19 global pandemic, the organizers of the Pritzker Prize decided to use Livestream the award ceremony. Having reached the end of 2020, ArchDaily has summed up what current and previous Pritzker Prize winners have accomplished during this turbulent year.
China’s first dedicated cultural design center, Design Society, has opened to the public in Shenzhen. Designed by legendary Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki, the center’s brand new building on the harborfront of Shekou will serve as a platform for the museum’s innovative program highlighting all realms of design while creating a “thought-provoking experience” for visitors.
Pritzker Prize laureate and 67th AIA Gold MedalistFumihiko Maki (born September 6, 1928) is widely considered to be one of Japan's most distinguished architects. He had a unique style of Modernism that reflects his Japanese origin. Toshiko Mori has praised Maki's ability to create "ineffable atmospheres" using a simple palette of various types of metal, concrete, and glass. His consistent integration and adoption of new methods of construction as part of his design language contribute to his personal quest to create "unforgettable scenes."
A series of new photographs of China’s “first major design museum” has been unveiled by Design Society, showing Pritzker Prize winner Fumihiko Maki’s design nearing completion in the Shekou district of Shenzhen. Commissioned by the duo of China Merchants Group (CMG) and the V&A Museum in London back in 2014, the project was envisioned as a catalyst for development in the city, given Shenzhen’s bustling creative sector of over 6,000 companies.
As the photos display, the building is formed through three separate cantilevering volumes, which sit atop a plinth overlooking the waterfront. An exterior corner staircase leads to a number of publicly accessible rooftop terraces, inviting the public to engage with the building at various levels. Finishing touches are being added to the construction with the envelope already complete, while interior spaces and the site landscaping are still undergoing further polish and are yet to be fully resolved. Check out all the photographs of the building below, which will be occupied by Design Society upon completion.
In a letter sent a few weeks ago to India’s Council of Architecture, principal Fumihiko Maki has questioned the motivations of the Andhra Pradesh government committee, alleging unfair practice, lack of transparency and his firm’s ‘fraudulent’ removal from the project.
The Pritzker Prize-winning architect Fumihiko Maki has revealed early designs for China's "first major design museum", a project in the Shekou district of Shenzhen commissioned by China Merchants Group (CMG) in collaboration with London's V&A Museum. The design model was unveiled yesterday at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London, where representatives of CMG and the V&A signed a collaboration agreement to deliver the museum, which is hoped to open at the end of 2016.
Maki's design for the Shekou Museum features three severely cantilevered volumes atop a deconstructed plinth; a staircase at the corner of the building also leads to the green public space on the roof.
Though it seemed a compromise was met last October, when Japan’s minister of education, Hakubun Shimomura announced plans to reduce the cost and scale of the Zaha Hadid-designed Tokyo Olympic Stadium, the debate rages on.
Pritzker laureates Toyo Ito and Fumihiko Maki have launched an online petition to “defend the ginko tree-lined landscape of blue sky and Jingu Outer Gardens” from the construction of Hadid’s “oversized” stadium.
The petition (now with more than 13,000 signatures) urges the Japan Sports Council, who hand selected Hadid’s winning design alongside Tadao Ando, to reconsider upgrading the existing Meiji Jingo Gaien Stadium and the gardens surrounding it. This solution, they believe, is a more affordable and sustainable alternative that would prevent the relocation of nearby residents.
Take a tour though Zaha Hadid’s 2020 Olympic Stadium and share your thoughts about the design (and petition), after the break...
UPDATE: The Washington Post reports that Japan's minister of education, Hakubun Shimomura, has announced a plan to trim the budget proposed for the Olympic stadium (now expected to cost $3 billion) designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. While he did not reveal the details of the scale-down, he maintained that the "design concept will be kept."
Pritzker Prize laureate Fumihiko Maki has rallied together a number of Japanese architects - including Sou Fujimoto, Toyo Ito and Kengo Kuma - to oppose the massive scale of Zaha Hadid’s competition-winning National Stadium. Planned to be Tokyo’s main venue for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic games, Hadid’s 290,000 square meter stadium is accused of being “too big and too artificial” for the surrounding context.
Japanese modernist Fumihiko Maki has been chosen to design a cultural and university complex on a 67-acre Kings Cross development in London. As reported by the Evening Standard, the 84-year-old, Pritzker Prize-winning architect will design two buildings for the Aga Khan Development Network – an organization who leads the world’s 15 million Ismaili Muslims.
The two projects are among five, totaling a half million square feet, that are being commissioned by the Network at Kings Cross. It is unsaid of who will design the other three buildings. However, preliminary designs studies are under way and formal appointments will be announced shortly.
Yesterday, the final steel beam rose 977 feet into the air and was placed atop 4 World Trade Center – the 72-story tower designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki. As gospel singer BeBe Winans sang “God Bless America”, the 8 ton beam, signed by all members of the team and adorned with an American flag, reached its final destination atop the city’s sixth tallest tower.
At over 80 years of age, Maki is making his New York debut in an elegant manner. The tower was designed to serve as a “respectful backdrop” to the National September 11 Memorial and not to compete with 1 World Trade. ”This is a special place with a sacred meaning and we felt we had to be respectful,” explained Osamu Sassa, Maki’s project architect, to The New York Times. Such a ideology offers a strong contrast with the other architectural statements that will eventually rise as part of the World Trade Center complex, such as Norman Foster’s 2 World Trade and Richard Roger’s 3 World Trade. While the minimalism of Maki may have kept the design under the radar during its design and construction stages, the grace of its simplicity will craft a dignified presence while visiting the site. ”The design of the tower at 150 Greenwich has two fundamental elements – a ‘minimalist’ tower that achieves an appropriate presence, quiet but with dignity, and a ‘podium’ that becomes a catalyst for activating the surrounding urban streetscape as part of the revitalization of lower Manhattan,” explained Maki.
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