Kurokawa, Kisho Noriaki

views updated May 14 2018

Kurokawa, Kisho Noriaki (1934– ). Japanese architect and prominent force in Metabolism, his buildings and publications have been influential. He was among the first Japanese architects to question the basis of the International Modern Movement, and promoted the Metabolists' argument that life-sciences had more relevance to architecture than the Machine Aesthetic. The Nagakin Capsule Tower, Tokyo (1972), demonstrated his concept of sophisticated buildings incorporating the latest technology yet capable of being changed. He is active in fusing Eastern and Western cultural currents, and his search for an inter-cultural architecture has led him to an eclecticism ranging from the Neo-Classical extension to the Japanese Embassy, Berlin (1988), to the gigantic Pacific Tower, La Défense, Paris (1991). Other works include Fukuoka Bank Head Office, Fukuoka (1975), the National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka (1978), the Saitama Museum of Modern Art, Urawa (1982), the Wacoal Kojimachi Building, Tokyo (1984), the Museum of Modern Art, Nagoya (1987), the City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima (1988), and the City Museum of Photography, Nara (1992). His writings have been influential.

Bibliography

Bognar (1985);
Chaslin (1988);
Drew (1972);
Kalman (1994);
Guiheux et al. (1997);
Kurokawa (1977, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1995a, 1995b, 1996, 2000);
Sharp (ed.) (1998, 2001, 2002)