Architect Fumihiko Maki (born 1928) came to prominence in the 1960s, a period of growth and vibrancy in Japanese architecture.

Although still identified with the classic modernism of the International Style, he moved on to create more complicated and ambiguous buildings that relate to the contemporary movement known as Deconstruction. His high-profile designs include the Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium in Kyoto, and the Nippon Convention Center. In the United States his work includes Washington University's Steinberg Hall Art Center, St. Louis, MO, and the Yerba Buena Gardens Visual Arts Center in San Francisco, CA. He has won several honors--including the 1993 Pritzker Architecture Prize and the Union Internationale des Architectes (UIA) Gold Medal Prize.

Fumihiko Maki was born in Tokyo in 1928 and was raised there. After graduating from the University of Tokyo in 1952 with a degree in architecture, Maki pursued graduate work in the...