FUMIHIKO MAKI ARCHIVE

Introduction to the Archive

by Yasushi Ikeda   

Fumihiko Maki is an internationally renowned architect who has designed buildings loved by people around the world. He has designed the SFC campus and many other Keio University buildings, including the libraries in Mita and Hiyoshi. As an extraordinary philosopher with an objective view of Japan’s unique traditional urban culture and international trends of modernization, he has taught at Harvard University, the University of Tokyo, and Keio University. Fumihiko Maki has directly trained and inspired numerous people worldwide. Moreover, many have also inherited his ideas by drawing inspiration from his works and writings.

Founded at Keio University’s Shonan Fujisawa Campus and started in March 2022, the Fumihiko Maki Archive is an activity to collect and organize parts of Fumihiko Maki’s materials. The archive’s activity aims to organize his collection of materials to tell the story of his unique footsteps and the international cultural exchange that was the source of his work. The archive activity aims to organize precious material to help aspiring urban design and architecture students and researchers worldwide develop their research.

As a base for these activities, the “Fumihiko Maki Room” is open on the 4th floor of the media center on campus to display and introduce some archived materials. The activities of the Fumihiko Maki Archive are formed by the student research in the “Urbanism Ideas and Architecture of Fumihiko Maki” course sponsored by Takenaka Corporation.

At this point, we have only begun researching a small portion of the extensive material. We recognize that the archive will continue as an endless activity in the future. In line with the wishes of Fumihiko Maki, from whom we have received the donations, the archive aims to spread the word and expand opportunities for people worldwide to come into contact with the valuable contents of this project. It is our goal to continue this practice for many years to come.