Metabolist Movement
Encyclopedia
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Japan, and so much of the work produced by the movement is primarily concerned with housing issues.
The group's work is often called technocratic
Technocracy (bureaucratic)
Technocracy is a form of government where technical experts are in control of decision making in their respective fields. Economists, engineers, scientists, health professionals, and those who have knowledge, expertise or skills would compose the governing body...
and their designs are described as avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
with a rhetorical character. The work of the Metabolists has often been compared to the unbuilt designs of Archigram
Archigram
Archigram was an avant-garde architectural group formed in the 1960s - based at the Architectural Association, London - that was futurist, anti-heroic and pro-consumerist, drawing inspiration from technology in order to create a new reality that was solely expressed through hypothetical projects...
.
After the disbanding of CIAM
Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne
The Congrès internationaux d'architecture moderne – CIAM was an organization founded in 1928 and disbanded in 1959, responsible for a series of events and congresses arranged around the world by the most prominent architects of the time, with the objective of spreading the principles of the Modern...
in 1958, the ideas of Team X
Team X
Team 10, just as often referred to as "Team X", was a group of architects and other invited participants who assembled starting in July 1953 at the 9th Congress of C.I.A.M...
were of great influence to young architects around the globe, including young Japanese architects. The World Design Conference of 1960 was held in Japan, and a group of young Japanese architects were involved with the planning. Under the guidance of Kenzo Tange
Kenzo Tange
was a Japanese architect, and winner of the 1987 Pritzker Prize for architecture. He was one of the most significant architects of the 20th century, combining traditional Japanese styles with modernism, and designed major buildings on five continents. Tange was also an influential protagonist of...
, the architects Takashi Asada, Kisho Kurokawa, Kiyonori Kikutake
Kiyonori Kikutake
is a prominent Japanese architect known as one of the founders of the Japanese Metabolist group. He has also been the tutor and employer of several important Japanese architects, such as Toyo Ito and Itsuko Hasegawa.-Career:...
, and writer Noboru Kawazoe often met and discussed the direction of Japanese architecture and urbanism. During the World Design Conference, the Metabolist group presented their first declaration as a bilingual pamphlet called Metabolism 1960: The proposals for a New Urbanism. Contributors to this work were Noboru Kawazoe, Kiyonori Kikutake
Kiyonori Kikutake
is a prominent Japanese architect known as one of the founders of the Japanese Metabolist group. He has also been the tutor and employer of several important Japanese architects, such as Toyo Ito and Itsuko Hasegawa.-Career:...
, Fumihiko Maki
Fumihiko Maki
is a Japanese architect and currently teaching at Keio University SFC.- Biography :After studying at the University of Tokyo he moved to the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and then to Harvard Graduate School of Design. In 1956, he took a post as assistant professor of...
, Masato Otaka, Kisho Kurokawa, and Kiyoshi Awazu. There are four copies of this pamphlet in libraries around the world; in the United States, one copy is found at Harvard University and one in the rare books collection of the College of Environmental Design at the University of California, Berkeley. The ideas of Metabolism as implemented in modern culture were philosophical as well as architectural, and ostensibly based on Buddhist notions of impermanence and change.
The individual members of the group soon went their own way and their contributions to the Osaka Exposition of 1970
Expo '70
was a World's Fair held in Suita, Osaka, Japan between March 15 and September 13, 1970. The theme of the Expo was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese Expo '70 is often referred to as Ōsaka Banpaku...
can be seen as their last major work.
Metabolist designs relied heavily on advanced technology, and they often consist of adaptable plug-in megastructures. Famous projects included the floating city in the sea (Unabara project), Kiyonori Kikutake's Marine City, Tower City, Ocean City, Wall City, Kisho Kurokawa's Agricultural City and Helix City. The most famous built example of Metabolism is Kurokawa's Nakagin Capsule Tower
Nakagin Capsule Tower
The is a mixed-use residential and office tower designed by architect Kisho Kurokawa and located in Shimbashi, Tokyo, Japan.Completed in 1972, the building is a rare built example of Japanese Metabolism, a movement that became emblematic of Japan's postwar cultural resurgence. The building was...
(1972).
Affiliated Projects
Japanese Metabolists- Living in a capsule (Akira Shibuya 1966, Youji Watanabe 1967, Kisho Kurokawa 1970-72)
- Mega city planning for Tokyo (Kenzo TangeKenzo Tangewas a Japanese architect, and winner of the 1987 Pritzker Prize for architecture. He was one of the most significant architects of the 20th century, combining traditional Japanese styles with modernism, and designed major buildings on five continents. Tange was also an influential protagonist of...
1960)
Relations with Western Architecture
- Habitat 67 Montréal (Moshe SafdieMoshe SafdieMoshe Safdie, CC, FAIA is an architect, urban designer, educator, theorist, and author. Born in the city of Haifa, then Palestine and now Israel, he moved with his family to Montreal, Canada, when he was 15 years old.-Career:...
1967) - Redevelopment Plan for the Modern Center of Montréal (1960s).
- Funnel city 'Intrapolis' (Walter Jonas 1960)
- Space city (Yona FriedmanYona FriedmanYona Friedman is a Hungarian-born French architect, urban planner and designer. He became famous in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the so-called age of megastructures.-Early years:...
1959-63) - Overbuilding the city of Ragnitz (Günther DomenigGünther DomenigGünther Domenig is an Austrian architect.Domenig studied architecture at the Technische Universität, Graz , and after working as an architectural assistant, set up in practice with Eilfried Huth , producing highly regarded buildings in a brutalist vein...
1963-69) - Swimming Hotel Kairo (Justus DahindenJustus DahindenJustus Dahinden is a notable Swiss architect, teacher and writer about architecture.- Life :From 1945 to 1949, he studied architecture at ETH Zürich , graduating in 1956 with his Ph.D. In 1955 he started his own architecture office in Zürich...
1972) - Akro-Polis leisure city (Justus DahindenJustus DahindenJustus Dahinden is a notable Swiss architect, teacher and writer about architecture.- Life :From 1945 to 1949, he studied architecture at ETH Zürich , graduating in 1956 with his Ph.D. In 1955 he started his own architecture office in Zürich...
1974) - Leisure city Kiryat Ono near Tel Aviv (Justus DahindenJustus DahindenJustus Dahinden is a notable Swiss architect, teacher and writer about architecture.- Life :From 1945 to 1949, he studied architecture at ETH Zürich , graduating in 1956 with his Ph.D. In 1955 he started his own architecture office in Zürich...
1984)
Asian Context
- Golden Mile ComplexGolden Mile ComplexGolden Mile Complex is a high-rise commercial and residential building on Beach Road in Kallang, Singapore. The building was formerly known as Woh Hup Complex...
, Singapore (Gan Eng Oon, William S.W. LimWilliam S.W. LimWilliam S.W. Lim, born in Hong Kong in 1932, is an architect. He graduated from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London and continued his graduate studies at Harvard University. Lim was a Fulbright Fellow in the Department of City and Regional Planning at Harvard University....
and Tay Kheng Soon 1973)
The unity of pop and machine: Archigram
Archigram
Archigram was an avant-garde architectural group formed in the 1960s - based at the Architectural Association, London - that was futurist, anti-heroic and pro-consumerist, drawing inspiration from technology in order to create a new reality that was solely expressed through hypothetical projects...
- Plug-in-City, Living Pod and Capsule Tower (Peter CookPeter Cook (architect)Professor Sir Peter Cook, founder of Archigram , former Director the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London and the Bartlett School of Architecture at University College London, has been a pivotal figure within the global architectural world for over half a century. His ongoing contribution to...
1964-66) - Walking City and Instant City (Ron HerronRon HerronRon Heron was a notable English architect and teacher. He was perhaps best known for his work with the seminal English experimental architecture collective Archigram, which was formed in London in the early 1960s...
1964-70) - Trickling Towers and Layer City (Peter CookPeter Cook (architect)Professor Sir Peter Cook, founder of Archigram , former Director the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London and the Bartlett School of Architecture at University College London, has been a pivotal figure within the global architectural world for over half a century. His ongoing contribution to...
1978-82)