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Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism The life and work of Arata Isozaki

European city to fast-growing cities in Asia and the Middle for a variety of performances and has been praised for its
East. The recent building boom in China and the Middle excellent acoustics. The Zendai Himalayas Art Center in
East allowed the architect to finally realize ideas for urban Shanghai (2003 – 2010) is a three-dimensional collage of
planning that he first conceptualized 40 years earlier. caverns and ornamental structures.
In this most recent phase, Isozaki continued to push In 2005, the CityLife office tower in the former trade
the envelope of what was possible urbanistically, socially, fair area in Milan was realized. The CityLife project, known
and technologically, creating new forms with cantilevering as Torre Isozaki, is a dramatic 200-meter-high tower that,
parts that have often challenged gravity. instead of the classic image of three parts (with base, shaft,
In an age where the difference between “urban” and crown), builds on the concept of the “endless column,”
and “non-urban” has become increasingly blurred, the referencing Brancusi’s work. His projects during this phase
concept of the polycentric city had gained momentum. highlighted the contradictions and discontinuities of the
The projects completed in this phase can mostly be contemporary city, where organized and orderly planning
found in the fast-growing mega-cities of Asia rather was now rarely possible, and sometimes evoked the idea
than in Japan or the USA, a sign that architecture has of an informational city as an advanced network of ICT
become a truly globalized endeavor, catering to a new systems.
global consumer society. Arata Isozaki and Associates Not unlike Le Corbusier, Isozaki’s later work evolved to
opened an office in China. Globalization also leads to become more organic, often with curvilinear building forms
an architecture that is less distinctive of any one place derived from nature forming cave-like spaces and bone-
or country, because it is abstract rather than locally like structures. Around 2000, Isozaki became interested in
anchored by regional materials and typologies. Many incorporating organically shaped structural elements and
of these projects, clusters of high-rise towers seen advances in parametric design and digital fabrication. The
as variations of earlier themes, were now in China, Himalayas Art Center and the Qatar Convention Center
Vietnam, and Central Asia, in the Middle East including are both good examples of the organic phase with which
Qatar. Among his numerous projects in the Middle and Isozaki has searched for deeper meaning beyond ordinary
Far East, the proposal for the National Library in Qatar criteria. Among his most unexpected designs was the Qatar
stands out: a high-rise tower that recalls the unbuilt National Convention Center: giant concrete “trees” with
“City in the Air” from 40 years earlier. Some ideas take a trunks and thick branches, the surreal forms contradicting
lifetime to finally be built (Figures 4 and 5). the otherwise simple Modernist structure, support its roof.
Between 1998 and 2020, Chinese cities rapidly As one of the largest exhibition centers in the Middle East,
urbanized and built a large number of cultural facilities, it evokes tree structures – inspired by the symbol of the
including museums, libraries, concert halls, theaters, holy Islamic tree: two giant arms, which surround the glass
and infrastructure (e.g., during this time, more than 360 façade and support the roof canopy.
theaters were realized). Here, Isozaki had the opportunity At the beginning of the new millennium and in a
to realize some of the important public buildings in large tech-saturated age of new possibilities, these recent works
cities and apply his vast experience in museum lighting appeared like “Google Earth Architecture” in the age
and acoustics. The Shenzhen Cultural Center and Library of satellite surveillance, an era that has radically altered
(1998 – 2007) includes a large vineyard-style symphony the way we perceive urban and rural environments. This
hall and theater. It quickly became one of the most applied especially to rapidly growing cities in China and the
remarkable landmarks of the young city of Shenzhen. increasing uncertainty about their physical presence and
The Art Museum of the Central Academy of Fine Arts longevity; these works made this uncertainty explicit. The
(CAFA) in Beijing’s Chaoyang District (2003 – 2008) is impact of globalization and popular culture on architecture
another masterpiece that reminds of the curved design of and cities has yet to be studied and investigated seriously.
Nara Convention Center. The gallery spaces of this large This fourth phase of his work was again highly creative
museum mainly used for temporary exhibitions offers a with surprisingly fresh design concepts. This may well have
sensual and luminous combination of artificial lighting been his most creative period.
and daylight. Isozaki’s most recent cultural facility in
China is the world-class Shanghai Symphony Hall (2008 Typical works from this phase include:
– 2014), seating 1200 people. The foyer provides access • Shenzhen Cultural Center and Library (1998 – 2007),
to three halls, and it is the new home to the Shanghai Shenzhen, China
Symphony Orchestra, the oldest symphony in China. The • Torino Palasport Olimpico Stadium (2002 – 2006),
vineyard-style grand hall accommodates different settings Turin, Italy

Volume 5 Issue 1 (2023) 13 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.353