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Tower 4

Maki & Associates

Established in 1965, Maki & Associates is based in Tokyo. The firm is currently staffed with 40 architects, urban designers, and administrative personnel. The number of employees has been limited on purpose to ensure that Mr. Maki can maintain a close working relationship with each firm member and daily involvement with each project.

Maki & Associates has also worked with a number of foreign clients and client groups both within Japan and abroad. Examples of the firm's work in Tokyo include an apartment building for Swire House (1970), St. Mary's International School (1972), the Austrian and Danish Embassies (1976, 1979), the Novartis Pharma Tsukuba Research Center (1993), the Tokyo Church of Christ (1995), and interiors for the Irish Embassy and the EU Commission. Major projects abroad include Steinberg Hall at Washington University in St. Louis, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, Isar Büro Park Office Complex in Munich, the Sam Fox Arts Center at Washington University in St. Louis, and Republic Polytechnic in Singapore. In addition to Tower 4 at the WTC site, the firm's current overseas work includes the Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat in Ottawa (2008), the Media Arts and Sciences Building at MIT (2008), the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania (2008), the Novartis office building in Basel (2009), and the redevelopment of Taipei Main Station Area (2012).

The work of Maki & Associates has been widely published and has won a number of domestic and international awards. Among these are the Reynolds Aluminium Award for innovations in the use of aluminium (for the Spiral Building), the Prince of Wales Prize in Urban Design from Harvard University (for Hillside Terrace), and the Quaternario Award for technological innovation (for Makuhari Messe). Perhaps the most prestigious award for a Japanese architect is the BCS Award, which recognizes a combination of high construction quality, good design, and client satisfaction. Maki & Associates has been honored with this award 14 times, starting in 1983 for the Dentsu Osaka Headquarters building and continuing through 2002 for the Fukushima Gender Equality Center.

Fumihiko Maki
Principal, Maki & Associates

Fumihiko Maki is the recipient of the 1994 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate. He received a master of architecture from the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, and from the Cranbrook Academy of Art.

In 1956, he assumed the post of assistant professor of architecture at Washington University in St. Louis, where he also was awarded his first commission: the design of Steinberg Hall (an art center) on the university's Danforth Campus.

Upon returning from a ten-year period of study, teaching, and practice in the United States, Mr. Maki established his firm in 1965. He personally takes a leadership role in all commissions, from design inception through to completion (including construction supervision). In terms of decision making and communication, the mid-sized firm is run much more like a smaller organization. Each member of the office is involved in and responsible for all aspects of projects, from budget and programming to design drawing and detailing to construction supervision. Further, Mr. Maki makes himself available for direct client consultation at any time. He is not simply responsive but instead proactive in addressing clients' needs.