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Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Fumihiko Maki

The Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki at MIT Media Lab.

Fumihiko Maki is a Japanese architect who is also a tutor at the Keio University SFC.

He was born on 6th September 1928 in Tokyo, Japan. The early childhood of Fumihiko Maki is not known that much as well as his family.

Fumihiko Maki studied at the University of Tokyo where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture in 1952.

After this achievement, he moved to Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

In 1953, he graduated with a master鈥檚 degree from the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He, later on, continued studying at Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Fumihiko Maki graduated with a Master of Architecture degree from Harvard later in 1954.

He is a great architect who teaches at the Keio University SFC. Fumihiko Maki has several awards for his great work.

One of the acknowledgements is on pioneering and use of materials that fuse the cultures of the west and the east.

Here are the ten fascinating facts about Fumihiko Maki:

1. Fumihiko Maki is a Great Scholar

Fumihiko Maki Hiroshi Ishii and Gary Kamemoto. Photo by: Jean Baptisteparis

During his era, several people had no interest in studying broadly, but some like Fumihiko Maki had more interest in broadening their studies.

After graduating from the University of Tokyo with a degree in Architecture, Maki went ahead to advance his studies abroad.

Fumihiko Maki joined Cranbrook Academy of Art where he received his master鈥檚 degree in Architecture.

He, later on, went to the Graduate school of Design and completed his Master鈥檚 in Architecture from Harvard University in 1954.

2. Fumihiko Maki鈥檚 Brilliant Architecture in the United States

51 Astor Place, an office tower located between Astor Place and East 9th Street and between 3rd and 4th Avenues in the East Village neighbourhood of Manhattan, New York City, was built in 2013 and was designed by Fumihiko Maki. It is across the street from the Cooper Union Foundation Building.

Maki has several great architectural projects across the world with some of them being in the United States of America.

After taking over the post of assistant professor of architecture at the Washington University in St. Louis, he designed Steinberg Hall on the university鈥檚 Danforth campus in 1956.

The Steinberg Hall was his only building in the United States until 1993 when he went for another project.

He completed the Yerba Buena Centre for Arts building that is located in San Francisco becoming his second project in the United States.

In 2006, Fumihiko Maki made a return to Washington University where he designed the new home for the Mildred and Lane Kemper Art Museum as well as Walker Hall.

He also designed an extension of the building of MIT Media Lab in Cambridge that was completed in 2009.

Maki also designed Tower 4 at the former World Trade Centre which opened in 2013. This tower was later called 鈥減retty exquisite鈥� by the New York magazine.

He also designed the London campus of Aga Khan University, as well as part of the King鈥檚 Cross development project.

3. Maki鈥檚 Major Projects in Europe

Aga Khan Foundation, designed by Fumihiko Maki.

Alongside the major projects of Fumihiko Maki in the United States are other projects in Europe. He designed the Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat in Ottawa and the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto.

Fumihiko Maki was also assigned by Sonja and Reinhard Ernst to design the Museum Reinhard Ernst located in Wiesbaden, Germany.

4. Fumihiko Maki鈥檚 $300 Million UN Project

UN Building.

Maki has been involved in expensive projects that cost several millions of dollars. The most notable and most expensive project by Fumihiko Maki is the expansion of the headquarters of the United Nations in Manhattan.

This project cost approximately $330 million, which was a great project for Fumihiko Maki.

5. Maki鈥檚 Notable Projects in Japan

Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium 2008.

Most projects of Fumihiko Maki are based in Tokyo and the whole of Japan, apart from those in Europe. In Japan, Fumihiko Maki has several notable projects that are infused with Japanese culture and modernism.

Some of the notable projects of Fumihiko Maki in Japan include:

a) The Hillside Terrace is located in Tokyo and was completed in 1969.

b) The Expo 1970.

c) St Mary鈥檚 International School project in Tokyo.

d) Osaka Prefectural Sports Centre.

e) The 1985 Spiral in Tokyo.

f) Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus was completed in 1990.

g) The Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.

h) The TV Asahi located in Tokyo was completed in 2003.

and

i) Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat.

6. Top Architecture Awards Won by Fumihiko Maki

Fumihiko Maki is widely known across the world for his great architectural projects and works. His excellent projects won him several awards from the early 90s to 2011.

Some of the awards Fumihiko Maki won include, the Wolf Prize in Arts in 1988, Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1993, International Union of Architects Gold Medal in 1993, Premium Imperiale in 1999 and AIA Gold Medal in 2011.

7. Maki鈥檚 Elegant Hillside Terrace Apartments

Yokohama Island Tower, at Yokohama Kanagawa Japan, was designed by Fumihiko Maki in 2003.

Fumihiko Maki has his Hillside Terrace Apartments which is a complex of buildings he developed for 25 years. In the complex, there are intimate courtyards hidden within greenery which are linked by meandering passages.

The best thing about the complex is the articulation of several layers of threshold spaces between busy street edge and densely wooded interior.

8. Fumihiko Maki Family Life

A great architect is also a family man. Fumihiko Maki married Misao Matsumoto, but the year of their union is not known. Fumihiko Maki and Misao Matsumoto are blessed with two children.

9. Maki鈥檚 Firm Lost Indian Amaravati City Contest

There was some controversy that involved Fumihiko Maki鈥檚 organization in 2017. There was a contest brought up by the Indian Government for the Amaravati City complex.

The Maki and Associates won the competition in the first round and were awarded the project by the Indian government.

However, their designs were criticised by the public for the lack of Indian-inspired architectural influence. This made Maki and Associates make several changes, but their efforts were turned down.

Maki lost this project as the Indian government decided to reopen the contest and ditch the Maki and Associates.

10. Fumihiko Maki Protested over New Stadium in Tokyo

Interior of Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, at Sendagaya Tokyo Japan, designed by Fumihiko Maki in 1990.

In 2015, there was a proposed project for the Zaha Hadid鈥檚 new national stadium in Tokyo. This stadium was intended to build a huge ground before Rugby World Cup.

Zaha Hadid’s new national stadium was supposed to hold about 80,000 people, a project that could have cost millions and was too big for the surrounding.

Fumihiko Maki then organized a symposium and invited other top architects in protesting this idea.

Fumihiko Maki will always remain to be one of the most renowned architects who inspired the inauguration of cultures and accept modernism.