On Collective Form

Abstract

The following article is an edited version of the keynote address presented at the 13th International docomomo Conference that took place in Seoul, Korea, in September 2014. In this essay, Fumihiko Maki's urban design theory and practice are traced through nearly 60 years of written and built work. Extensive travel and observations of village formations (under the auspices of the Graham Foundation) in 1958, research and writing "Investigations in Collective Form" at Washington University in St. Louis, and associations with the Metabolist Group and Team X are elements which Maki has stitched together to form his understanding of urban architectural group form strategies. These strategies have been tested in a variety of projects throughout Japan and elsewhere; together with his texts, they form a continuing body of work that exhibit how successful, quality urban environments are created.