In this unbuilt design, massive pylons support elevated transportation, housing, and office systems as well as parks and walkways suspended above the existing city. Isozaki’s round columns permit growth in any direction. He represented his urban proposal among the ruins of a Greek temple, hinting at the artistic and discursive nature of his ideas. By conflating radical ideas with rejected modes of representation (those related to Romanticism), he created an ironic cultural statement about the discourses and ways of life of the period.

Gallery label from

9 + 1 Ways of Being Political: 50 Years of Political Stances in Architecture and Urban Design, September 12, 2012–March 25, 2013.

Medium 1990 Silkscreen (of 1962 drawing)
Dimensions 41 x 34 3/8" (104.1 x 87.3 cm)
Credit Gift of the architect in honor of Philip Johnson
Object number 358.1996
Department Architecture & Design

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Arata Isozaki

Arata Isozaki

Japanese, born 1931 22 works online

Like many of his generation, Arata Isozaki was strongly shaped by the destruction of Japanese cities during World War II.

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