Fumihiko Maki is a member of postwar Japanese architects — the group supports metabolist movement and advocates usage of new technology with committed belief in architecture’s organic and human qualities. Born in Tokyo on 16th September 1928, Maki graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1952 with a degree in architecture. Following this he pursued graduate work in USA, studying at Michigan's Cranbrook Academy and Harvard University. He received his Master’s degree from Graduate School of Design, after which he worked as a designer for the reputed firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill in New York. He was awarded a Graham Foundation Fellowship in 1958, after which he went on two extensive research trips to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and northern and southern Europe. The formal and spatial organisation of the eastern settlements, particularly the communities along the Mediterranean coast, kindled Maki’s interest in collective forms. Impressions from this trip led to his first urban design proposal, elaborated with Masato Otaka for the redevelopment of west Shinjuku in Tokyo. While Maki made his architectural debut as an urban planner and founder member of the metabolist group in 1960, he always remained a convinced modernist in his use of new technology, modular planning and standardised construction. He was also interested in a contextual approach to design. Fumihiko Maki further developed this concept in 1964 by publishing his investigations in ‘Collective Form’. He explained it as one of three paradigms of collective forms, in contrast to "compositional form" and "megaform". Maki's "group form" is a more flexible urban organisation based on a human scale in which the parts and the whole are mutually independent and connected through various linkages. He applied these principles to his Hillside Terrace flats (1967-76) in Daikanyama, Tokyo, designing a series of public, semi-public and semi-private spaces reinforcing the then existing street pattern.

An intellectual at heart Maki held teaching positions at various reputed academic institutions like Washington University (St. Louis, MO), Harvard University and the University of Tokyo. After spending over a decade in States, Maki returned to his homeland and founded Maki And Associates in 1965. In his prolific career Maki has largely commissioned public works such as museums, universities, libraries and exhibition centres. He is recognised for his architectural and urban design work as well as his contributions to architectural theory. His work is characterised by his critical development of the modern model, his desire to create a contemporary urban architecture, spaces of public appearance and his attempt to fuse design concepts of the East and West. His rational approach, intelligent combination of technology combined with craftsmanship and delicate details manifest in his projects for cultural, residential, commercial, educational, convention and sports facilities. In his early career Maki concentrated on space and the relationship between solid and void. His attempt at integrating architecture and urbanism brought him close to Team X (ten), whose meeting Fumihiko Maki attended in I960 in southern France. His projects from the 1970s reflect his ideology of loosely connected and articulated parts, human scale and transitional spaces. Projects such as the Kato Gakuen Elementary School (1972) in Numazu and the Tsukuba University Central Building (1974) are few which cater to the above mentioned ideology.

Never content to simply write or talk about architecture, Fumihiko Maki was an active designer throughout his professional life. The project that best reflects the idea of "group form" is also considered among Maki’s great works — the Hillside Terrace Apartment Complex in Tokyo. Realised in six phases between 1969 and 1992 the residential and commercial ensemble is a rare example of a comprehensive long-term development of a large site in a Japanese city. It features a unified architectural style on an intimate human scale, with sidewalks and transitional spaces providing pedestrian access to shops and preserving privacy for the apartments on the upper levels. Fumihiko Maki was inspired by the layered spaces of traditional Japanese architecture and gardens, collaged and fragmentary composition, preference of which is evident in the facade of the Wacoal Media Centre (1985). The building illustrates the concept of phenomenological depth and Maki’s effort to relate to the particular environment of the place.

Till date Maki is considered as one of the major revolutionary figures of Japanese architecture from his generation, who had the privilege to study, work and teach in the United States and Japan. Maki is credited with attempting to deal in public architecture in Japan, where such a concept traditionally did not exist. The expressive stainless-steel roofs of the Fujisawa Municipal Gymnasium (1984), the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium (1990) and the Makuhari Convention Center (1989 and 1998) bear testimony to his efforts in changing the architectural space in Japan. A recurring aspect in Fumihiko Maki's designs is his masterful use of light, a quality that is further developed in his works of the 1990s. The Graduate School Research Center (1994) at Keio University's Shonan Fujisawa Campus is characterised by its transparent entrance wall and the brise-soleil of perforated aluminum panels. The Tokyo Church of Christ (1995) features a shop-like translucent wall of light in the main hall, separating the building from the chaotic surrounding and providing a place for spiritual reflection. Along with Arata Isozaki, Kisho Kurokawa, and Kazuo Shinohara, Fumihiko Maki is one of the few Japanese architects of his generation to enjoy international success and fame. He has been honored with numerous prizes, including the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1993. Currently, his firm is engaged in various projects across the world and he is an active participant in all their endeavours.

1980
“Late Entries to the Chicago Tribune Tower Competition." The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.

1983-85
"Architecture in Place." In United States.

1985
"New Public Architecture: Recent Projects by Fumihiko Maki & Arata Isozaki."
Japan House Gallery, New York & others

1987-91
"Recent Projects." IFA Paris, Venezia, Roma, Genova, Zurich, Graz, Berlin, Stuttgart, Antwerp, Copenhagen, Freiburg.

1987
"Tokyo: Form & Spirit." Walker Art Center Minneapolis, MoMA New York & San Francisco, IBM Gallery New York.

1990-91
"Architecture in Place." The University of Virginia, Charlottesville; Philadelphia; New York; RIBA, London.

1991
Venice Biennale
Japanese Pavilion-"Proposals for the Kyoto Concert Hall Competition"
Italian Pavilion-"Proposals for the Palazzo del Cinema, Venice"

1993
"Hillside Terrace 1967-1992." Harvard University, Cambridge

1995
"Light Construction." Museum of Modern Art, New York

1997
"From Tradition to the Future." The Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna

1997-98
"Cities on the Move." Vienna, Bordeaux, New York, Copenhagen, London

1998
"4th Bienal International de Arquitetura." San Paulo, Brazil

1999
"Making of the Public Realm." Istanbul, Turkey

2001-02
“Modernity and the Construction of Scenery.”
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Deutsches Zentrum Fur Architektur, Berlin
Danish Center for Architecture, Copenhagen
Maison de la Culture du Japon a Paris, Paris
Hillside Forum, Tokyo

2003
"Modernity and the Construction of Scenery." The URA Centre, Singapore

2009
Essar Steel Masterstrokes: The Icon Exhibtition, India