‘Change Became Constant’: The Many Styles of Pritzker Prize Winner Arata Isozaki

Originally published on Frieze.com

Five iconic buildings designed by the Japanese architect since 1962

Earlier this month, Arata Isozaki was awarded the 46th Pritzker Prize, known as the ‘Nobel prize of architecture’, the profession’s most prestigious award. The ninth Japanese winner of the prize, Isozaki was born in 1931, in the southern city of Ōita, and came of age in a country ravaged by World War II. After graduating from the University of Tokyo in 1954, Isozaki worked under 1987 Pritzker Prize laureate, Kenzo Tange, before setting up his own practice in 1963. In the subsequent decades Arata Isozaki & Associates have worked on projects across wide ranging styles, geographies and uses. Describing his work, Isozaki claims: ‘I could not dwell upon a single style. Change became constant. Paradoxically, this came to be my own style.’

Originally published on Frieze.com