ABSTRACT
Chapter 7 provides an overview of the notable transition from Japan’s challenging era of modern architecture to a stimulating postmodernism marked by a dramatic and abrupt shift. It argues against the common perception of Metabolism, a Japanese architectural movement, as solely optimistic and techno-utopian, emphasizing the architects’ response to a specific socioeconomic context. Metabolism should be seen as an endeavor to rebuild the devastated country through bold architectural interventions, exemplified by Kenzo Tange and his followers’ megastructures. The culmination of this era came with the 1970 expo. Subsequently, the architectural discourse shifted towards more individualistic architects like Arata Isozaki and Kazuo Shinohara, overshadowing the influence of the Metabolists. For these architects, architecture was not merely a means of transforming the city and society but a private critical statement. The following generation, some of whom were influenced by Shinohara, lacked the philosophical depth regarding society, and instead engaged in an intricate dance around the notion of the “endless everyday.”
