Kiyonori Kikutake is an architect who devoted his career to the theory of “Metabolism” and whom sadly passed away in the same year of the earthquake disaster in December 2011 at the age of 83. As a central member of the Metabolist group he brought Japanese architecture to the world and still continues to draw wide interest on a global scale. Beginning his career in the period of rapid economic growth after WWII, accompanied by the Tokyo Olympics and Osaka Expo, his work contributed to the images of the postwar modernist age. Yet at a time when foreign culture flooded into Japan like a torrent and with many sudden changes in lifestyle, Kikutake sought to maintain the pride of the Japanese people and protect Japanese identity, hoping to achieve a form of architecture which would cultivate human hearts, an objective which has even further resonance in today’s globalized world in which contemporary society has brought so much environmental destruction. This exhibition reflects on his practice through a wide collection of illustrations, photographs, sketches, notes and maquettes introduced through 4 different units, celebrating the bold ideas and philosophy of this great architect.
3 minute walk from exit 1 at Yushima Station on the Chiyoda line, 10 minute walk from exit A3 at Ueno-hirokoji Station on the Ginza line, 10 minute walk from exit A3 at Ueno-okachimachi Station on the Toei Oedo line.
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