Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, who was distinguished by b Pritzker Prize 2019 and signed the Palau Saint Jordi pavilion, in Barcelona, the mobile Ark Nova concert hall (with Anish Kapoor, in Japan) or the building El Drito, in Milan, at the age of 91. Growing up in the ruins of the Hiroshima nuclear bomb, he encountered and then was inspired by the scorched earth around him. Decades later, he has become “a great figure in contemporary architecture,” architectural critic Jorge Figuera told PÚBLICO in 2019. The news of his death was confirmed by the Spanish newspaper. vanguard Next to the Architect’s Atelier, powered by Country and the EFE News Agency.
It was emptiness, said Arata Isozaki, that gave him his first experience in architecture. Boy in 1931 in the area eighthOn a Japanese island Kyushuprescribed to British diary guardian How to grow near Hiroshimaas the United States dropped its first nuclear bomb in its attack on Japan during World War II in 1945, it was growing “in Not negotiable. [Tudo] It was in ruins and there was no architecture, no buildings, not even a city. Only tents and shelters surrounded me. Therefore, my first experience in architecture was emptiness, and I began to wonder how people could rebuild their homes and cities.” In Japan’s post-war reconstruction, he began to stand out as an architect, after establishing his studio, Arata Isozaki & Associates, in 1963.
His multifaceted and flexible style, which has evolved over the decades and with projects or collaborations, considers that the Pritzker Prize, the most important architecture award in the world, has come too late… “It’s like a crown on a tombstone,” he told the American newspaper. The New York Times When I learned about the discrimination. His influence is most evident between the 1960s, 1980s and 1990s, as Jorge Figuera noted in 2019, where other institutions have been timely in recognizing his work – the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) gold medal was attributed to him in 1986, and Venice Golden Biennale In 1996, he was awarded the French Order of Letters and Arts in 1997.
In its major decades, it has integrated the Japanese Metabolic Movement and Postmodernism. Examples of the two phases: Oita Municipal Library, his hometown (1962-1966), Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (1981-1986, his first commission outside Japan). He has more than a hundred works built worldwide—the Pritzker jury specifically noted that he “became the first Japanese architect to establish a deep and enduring relationship between West and East.”
A student of Kenzo Tang, he graduated in engineering and architecture, and is also known for his strong and lifelong interest in the history of architecture. He is the author of Palau Saint Jordi, the largest multi-purpose pavilion in Spain, opened in 1990 when the country hosted the Olympic Games, but also of very recent works such as the inflatable room Ark Novawhich was created to serve the regions of Japan affected by the 2011 tsunamior Torre Allianz, a skyscraper of Milan that, like the iconic buildings, has already had a nickname since its opening in 2018 – El Drito, evoking the straight, slender line of his profile. His favorite project was the Domus Museum – Casa del Hombre (1995), in A Coruña, Spain, where he ended up building a lot (he has seven notable projects in the neighboring country).
He passed through Porto in 2003 to open the exhibition electric mazeIn the Serralves Museum, project look at city The future after the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with atomic bombs.
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