Arata Isozaki

Arata Isozaki is one of the most important and influential Japanese architects working today. Born in Oita, Japan in 1931, he attended Tokyo University and later worked and studied under Kenzo Tange. In 1963, he opened his own practice and since then has realized a large number of buildings in Japan, Europe, and the United States. Through his work as an architect and theorist, Isozaki has acted as a bridge between the East and the West, exporting Japanese architecture into the Western world and importing outside trends and movements into Japan.

Arata Isozaki has conceived this monograph in collaboration with Ken Tadashi Oshima. It presents a unique tour through his architecture from the first visionary urban projects of the 1960s to his latest buildings from all over the world. The projects featured in the book have been carefully selected from Isozaki's vast portfolio. They are not presented in chronological order; they are grouped in chapters titled and arranged in accordance with Isozaki's instructive categorizations of his own work. Each of the six chapters contains conceptual texts by Isozaki (many previously untranslated from the original Japanese or unpublished); critical analysis by Oshima; a main case study project, extensively illustrated and explored; and a survey of related projects.

One of Isozaki's central tenets is the belief that 'the city, architecture, and various social systems are nothing more than processes.' Following this theory, there is an emphasis on process throughout the book, from conception, through construction, to use. We are introduced to projects through drawings and images of models, led through plans, and ultimately presented withphotographs of the final construction as each building is born and then matures in its existence and function.