Kisho Kurokawa

1934–2007 · Japanese · 14 buildings on the wall

Kisho Kurokawa (1934–2007) was a Japanese architect and one of the founders of the Metabolist movement. He studied under Kenzō Tange at the University of Tokyo, and as early as 1958 he predicted a "transition from the Age of the Machine to the Age of Life", returning again and again to ideas of metabolism, recycling, ecology and sustainability.

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The Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo's Ginza district (1972) was the world's first example of capsule architecture: prefabricated, replaceable rooms fixed to a core, with the capsules, lifts, pipes and ducts all left exposed. It was demolished in 2022, but 23 capsules were set aside for preservation and reuse. His later work includes museums such as the National Museum of Ethnology in Suita (1977), the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art (1988) and the National Art Center, Tokyo (2007). Kuala Lumpur International Airport (1998) earned him the Dedalo-Minosse International Prize in 2003 and was the first airport to receive Green Globe 21 certification. Kisho Kurokawa's buildings are studied for the Metabolist idea of architecture that can grow, change and be renewed.

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