Fumihiko Maki. Born in Tokio in 1928. Graduated from the University of Tokyo Department of Architecture in 1952. Holds a master's degree at Cranbrook Academy of Art and the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Worked at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Sert Jackson and Associates. Taught as associate professor at the University of Washington and Harvard University from 1956 to 1965. Returned to Japan in 1965 and established Maki and Associates. Taught as a professor at the University of Tokyo from 1979 to 1989. Notable awards include the 1988 Wolf Prize in Arts, the 1990 Thomas Jefferson Awards for Public Architecture, the 1993 International Union of Architects (UIA) Gold Medal and the Prince of Wales Prize in Urban Design presented by Harvard University, the 1999 Arnold Brunner Memorial Architecture Award and the Praemium Imperiale for Architecture. Was awarded the prestigious Pritzker Prize in 1993 and received the Gold Medal from the AIA American Institute of Architects in 2011.
Maki and Associates was established in 1965 by Fumihiko Maki, upon his return from a ten year period of study, teaching, and practice in the United States. The office has been based in Tokyo throughout its 42 year history, and is currently staffed by forty architects, urban designers, and administrative personnel. This size has been purposefully limited to enable Maki to maintain a close working relationship with each firm member, and daily involvement with each project. Maki personally takes a leadership role in all commissions from design inception through to completion (including construction supervision).
