The Japanese architect Arata Isozaki (born 1931) developed a style which reflected both Japanese traditions and Western post-modern and mannerist influences. Isozaki also wrote about architecture and taught in several universities.

Arata Isozaki was born in Oita City, Japan, in 1931. He studied with Kenzo Tange, one of Japan's leading modern architects, at the University of Tokyo from 1950 to 1954. He continued to work for and with Tange as a graduate student at the university and then in the older man's firm from 1954 to 1963. At that point Isozaki established his own practice but did not disassociate himself from his mentor, continuing to design occasionally for Tange into the 1970s. This attitude is in keeping with native Japanese practices that stress collaboration and cooperation, rather than competition, among professionals.

Influences

Nearly all of the leading 20th-century Japanese designers have attempted to synthesize indigenous traditions with Western forms, materials, and technologies. Isozaki's "style...