The Asian Cultural Council (ACC) is saddened by the recent passing of Fumihiko Maki (ACC 1976). 

Maki supported ACC's activities with deep understanding and love. He made great contributions to ACC and the global field of architecture. Maki was a member of the Blanchette H. Rockefeller (BHR) Fellowship Fund Raising Committee from 1994 to 1996 to establish a second endowment for ACC's Japan-United States Arts Program. He also served as the chair of the executive fundraising committee for ACC's 50th anniversary in 2014, and was a featured speaker at ACC's 2018 East West Dialogue lecture series for our 55th anniversary. 

After graduating from the University of Tokyo, Maki travelled to the United States and completed a master's degree in architecture at Harvard University. He then worked at an architecture firm while also serving as an associate professor at the University of Washington and Harvard University. After returning to Japan in 1965, he established Maki and Associates, and worked on many projects throughout his life. His major works, characterized by modernist architecture and sophisticated spaces, include Hillside Terrace Complex (1969), Spiral in Aoyama (1985), the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto (1986), Tokyo Gymnasium (1990), Shimane Museum of Ancient Izumo (2007), and 4 World Trade Center in New York. Highly acclaimed both in Japan and abroad, Maki received the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1993, considered the Nobel Prize of architecture. He was also given the Praemium Imperiale in Honor of Prince Takamatsu in 1999 and the Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects in 2011.

Our sincere condolences to his family and loved ones.


Fumihiko Maki speaking at ACC's East-West Dialogues in 2018