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About Dr. Kisho Kurokawa

Dr. Kisho Kurokawa (1934-2007) was a globally acclaimed architect, humanitarian and environmentalist. He hoped the Academia Foundation's Hamilton-Kurokawa Fund would serve the global community.

The Japanese architect who led the "Metabolism Movement" and based his designs on themes including ecology and recycling, made his world debut in 1960. At age 26, he led a style known as the Metabolism Movement, advocating a shift from "machine principle" to "life principle" in his literary work and architectural designs based on themes including ecology, recycling and intermediate space. His theory of "Symbiosis" became globally renowned through his world-acclaimed book "Each One A Hero: The Philosophy of Symbiosis".
To read Each One a Hero: The Philosophy of Symbiosis, click here.

His major works can be found throughout the world including the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia, the National Art Center in Tokyo's posh Roppongi district, the new wing of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Toyota Stadium built for the 2002 World Cup, the Astana Master Plan for the New Capital of Kazakhstan and the Eco-Media City Project Plan for Zhengzhou City, China. In addition to his work in architecture, Dr. Kurokawa sat on numerous governmental advisory boards in Japan, China and Kazakhstan, and ran in the 2007 election for Tokyo Governor.
To see a complete list of Dr. Kurokawa's works and projects, please click here.

Born in Nagoya, Japan in 1934, Kurokawa graduated from Kyoto University's architecture department and then did his master's and doctoral studies at Tokyo University under Kenzo Tange, who was hailed as the architect of some of the most remarkable structures of the 20th century.

Kurokawa's design of the Kuala Lumpur airport won the 2003/2004 grand prix by Italy's Dedalo-Minosse International Prize, and was also certified as a sustainable airport by the United Nations' Green Globe 21 in 2003. Dr. Kurokawa's numerous awards include the Gold Medal from France's Academy of Architecture in 1986, the 48th Japan Art Academy Award in 1992 (the highest award for artists and architects in Japan), the AIA Los Angeles Pacific Rim Award in 1997, and most recently the Chicago Athenaeum Museum International Architecture Award in 2006. His travelling exhibition "Kisho Kurokawa" has been viewed by over 800,000 people, and he was the first Japanese architect to become an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Union of Architects in Bulgaria.

Over 550 newspapers and publications around the globe reported Kisho Kurokawa's death, and he is sadly missed as an architect, a humanitarian and an environmentalist.