Common and Particular: Human Behavior in Architecture

Fumihiko Maki, No Density, PLANE—SITE, Talk, Technology and fabrication

Aesthetics, Architectural theory, Cultural agitator, Culture, Design, Design process, Discipline, Form, Humanity, Japan, Materials, Minimalism, talk, Technology, Texture, Time Space Existence

Produced by PLANE—SITE, the video has been commissioned by the GAA Foundation and funded by the ECC in the run-up to the Time-Space-Existence exhibition during La Biennale di Venezia Architettura (opening May 2018).

This interview series has been made possible with the support of the European Cultural Centre.

One of the world’s foremost living modernists, AIA Gold Medalist and Pritzker laureate Fumihiko Maki’s celebrated career stretches over 60 years. Eschewing “unnecessary forms or textures” (as he puts it), his designs are understated integrations of metal, glass and concrete. Like other Japanese architects of his generation, Maki has spent a lifetime unafraid to embrace new technologies while insisting on their humanity. In this new video for the Time‑Space-Existence series, Maki discusses the importance in acknowledging both common and particular human behaviors in architecture, the strange shapes of today’s skyscrapers, and the influence of his mentor, Kenzo Tange.