Born in Oita, 1931. Graduated with a degree from the University of Tokyo School of Engineering Architecture Department. He created Arata Isozaki & Associates in 1963, and it exists to this day. Beginning with his work in the 1960’s such as the Oita Prefectural Library, when he was based mostly in Oita City, from the 1990’s onward he has expanded his activity around the world to include Barcelona, Holland, Krakov, Okayama, Kyoto, La Coruña, Yamaguchi, Berlin, and then in this century the Middle East, China and Central Asia. More than any other architect, his work reveals in its very construction a collision with politics, society and culture, and a deployment of personal thought and space that transcends ideological boundaries. Because he demonstrates the potential of those primal areas through his manner of construction, he has come to have a huge impact on other areas of knowledge as well. Through his critical writing, and as a judge at architecture competitions, he has also played an immense role in bringing to realization the concepts of radical architects around the world. His more than half a century of work includes philosophy, visual art, design, music, films, and plays, and he is always going beyond the framework of architecture to raise questions that transcend eras and borders.
