Fumihiko Maki: An Aesthetic of Fragmentation

Fumihiko Maki's preference for collaged and fragmentary composition, similar to the layered spaces of traditional Japanese architecture and gardens, is particularly evident in the facade of the Wacoal Media Center (1985). The so-called Spiral Building echoes the heterogeneous urban context of Tokyo and, like the TEPIA Building (1989), pays tribute to icons of 20th-century architecture and Cubist art in particular. The Spiral Building also illustrates the concept of phenomenological depth (oku): the main gallery space, surrounded by a gently sloping semicylindrical ramp, is situated at the hack of the building and shielded from the street by the entrance lobby, the cafe, and gallery space. Naturally illuminated from above, it can be seen from the street entrance. An intimate relationship between the inside and the outside is createtl by the broad staircase that shows in the facade. It is equipped with chairs and provides a rare (nonpaying) space in Tokyo for visitors to relax and watch the street below. Fumihiko Maki's effort to relate to the particular environment ol each place is further illustrated in Fumihiko Maki's National Museum of Modern Art (1986) in Kyoto, the facade of which features an orthogonal pattern in tune with the traditional grid of the city as well as a symmetry, a reference to the surrounding neoclassical buildings.