Born in 1934, Kisho Kurokawa was the son of a respected architect and studied initially at the University of Kyoto, later moving to the University of Tokyo to study and later work under Kenzo Tange. Kurokawa first came to public prominence in 1960 when, at 26 years old, he was part of the small group of avant-garde architects who developed the Metabolist manifesto ahead of the World Design Conference held that year in Tokyo. Kurokawa’s star would continue to rise throughout the 1960s, and at Expo 70 he designed the Takara Beautillion and Toshiba IHI Pavilion, both of which were composed of base frames and capsules that could theoretically grow in many directions.

Kurokawa’s Nakagin Capsule Tower (1972) remains the best-known example of Metabolist architecture - an incompletely realised prototype of Kurokawa’s ideas about organic urban growth, in which modules attach to a central core and are designed to be moved, replaced and adapted over time. Later, Kurokawa’s design shifted from the radical position of Metabolism towards more conventional construction techniques and a less modular aesthetic. He self-consciously borrowed and hybridised traditional Japanese architectural concepts, particularly around materiality, impermanence, and detailing. In his later career Kurokawa also designed and built large-scale schemes outside of Japan. In Australia he designed two major projects, Brisbane’s Central Plaza One (1988) and the Melbourne Central retail precinct and office tower (1991).

Robin Boyd profiled Kurokawa for New Directions in Japanese Architecture and corresponded with the architect about photos for the book. Boyd wrote glowingly about Kurokawa’s Takara Beautillion for Architectural Forum in March 1970, calling it “The most exciting piece of architecture” at Expo 70 in a piece titled A Glimpse of the Future (pdf).