A comprehensive look into the accomplishments of Japanese architect Arata Isozaki.

Arata Isozaki (1931–2022) undoubtedly ranks among Japan’s, and the world’s, most distinguished architects. He ran his own firm in Tokyo from 1963, realized buildings in many countries, and held teaching appointments at Columbia, Harvard, and Yale universities as well. He created a body of work that has constantly evolved and transformed over the decades. His best-known designs include the Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art in Fukuoka, the Shenzhen Cultural Center Concert Hall, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, the Berliner Volksbank office building on Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz, the Palasport Olimpico in Turin, and the Allianz Tower (Il Dritto) in Milan. Isozaki was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1986 and the Pritzker Prize in 2019.

Arata Isozaki: In Formation is the first new monograph on the architect in fifteen years. Conceived in close collaboration with Arata Isozaki & Associates, it features photographs, plans, model images, drawings, and watercolors from all periods of Isozaki’s career. Arranged thematically, it follows key concepts of the architect’s creative development from the 1970s throughout his lifetime. Introductory essays round off this comprehensive survey of an outstanding architectural oeuvre.

Xiangning Li is professor of history and theory of architecture at Shanghai’s Tongji University. Aric Chen is the director of the Nieuwe Instituut Museum of Architecture, Design, and Digital Culture in Rotterdam. Lei Qin is director of Archipelago gallery and publishing house in Shanghai.