Rem Koolhaas’s most recent publication (with Hans Ulrich Obrist) tells the story of Metabolism, a technocratic movement of the 1960s based on ideas of organic growth. Nine surprisingly personal interviews with Metabolist architects and related figures (such as Atushi Shimokobe, a government official who helped many of the architects get early commissions) make the book a page-turner. Chapters on 20th-century Japan are also engaging, as are the comments in side notes. Captioned photo essays supplement illustrations that are interspersed with the text.
Two key events in this meticulously researched history are the World Design Conference in 1960, which marked the beginning of the movement, and Expo ’70 in Osaka, its climax. However, just as the narrative goes beyond architecture to cover the politics, sociology, and culture of Japan, it follows those involved with Metabolism from the early 1970s to the present. Despite the distance he maintained from Metabolism, Kenzo Tange, the late dean of Japanese architecture, served as an eminence grise, a role that is vividly recalled by his right-hand man Arata Isozaki. Tange’s teaching and practice created a hospitable environment for new ideas, and he masterminded Expo ’70, which marked the restoration of Japan’s postwar moral and economic influence.
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