Arata Isozaki, Japanese Architect

Born:

July 23, 1931 in Oita, Kyushu, Japan

Education of Arata Isozaki:

• 1954: University of Tokyo, Department of Architecture in the Faculty of Engineering
• Apprenticed with architect Kenzo Tange

Important Buildings by Arata Isozaki:

Arata Isozaki is known for using bold, exaggerated forms and inventive detailing. His works include:

• 1971-1974: Gumma Prefectural Museum of Modern Art in Takasaki City, Japan
• 1981-1986: Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles, California
• 1989-1990: Team Disney Building in Orlando, Florida
• 1992: Sports Hall, Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain

Arata Isozaki's Inspirations:

Arata Isozaki was inspired by the imaginative, Japanese New Wave movement known as Metabolism.

Arata Isozaki & Associates:

Address:
9-6--17 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0052 Japan
Web Site:
Arata Isozaki & Associates

About Arata Isozaki :

Born and educated in Japan, Arata Isozaki often integrates Eastern ideas into his designs.

For example, Isozaki wanted to express a yin-yang theory of positive and negative space when he designed the Team Disney Building in Orlando, Florida. Also, because the offices were to be used by time-conscious executives, he wanted the architecture to make a statement about time.

Serving as offices for the Walt Disney Corporation, the Team Disney Building is a startling landmark on the otherwise barren stretch of Florida's Route I-4. The oddly looped gateway suggests gigantic Mickey Mouse ears. At the building's core, a 120-foot sphere forms the world's largest sundial. Inside the sphere is a serene Japanese rock garden.

Isozaki's Team Disney design won a prestigious National Honor Award from the AIA in 1992.