He has been experimenting with programmatic generation of architecture since the 1990s,[1] and has already been developing and implementing AI since 2001.[2]
His creative activities encompass not only architectural design but also research, artwork, drawing, organizing international competitions,[3] and even writing a novel.[4]
Biography
In junior high school, he belonged to the biology club.[5] In high school, he aspired to study biology at university, but on the recommendation of his biology teacher, he chose architecture as a field that combines both science and art.[6] He graduated from Yokohama National University Graduate School in 1976, worked at Arata Isozaki Atelier, and then started MAKOTO SEI WATANABE / ARCHITECTS' OFFICE [7] in 1984.
His first actual work, "AOYAMA TECHNICAL COLLEGE" [8][9][10][11][12][13][14] (1990), which was the winning entry of the international competition, attracted a great deal of attention for its bold design.
However, his design direction was not singular, and another series in a different direction, a project called "JELLY FISH" [15][16][17] (1990), which could be described as minimalism, was announced at the same time as "AOYAMA TECHNICAL COLLEGE".
Concurrently, he explored theoretical aspects and, based on his interest in biology, conducted research that viewed cities and architecture not from the perspective of conventional 'design' but from that of 'generation'.
He then released "INDUCTION DESIGN" [1][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] (1994) as a method of generating architecture and cities using computer programs by algorithmizing the conditions to be solved. This method, later termed “ALGOrithmic Design”,[25] culminated in "SUBWAY STATION / IIDABASHI" [26][27][28][29][30][31][32] (2000). Subsequently, he developed the AI program “program of FLOW” [2] (2001) based on this method and used it to complete "Tsukuba Express / Kashiwanoha-Campus Station" [33][34] (2004). Its successor AI program, "pBM: project Beautiful Mind",[35][36] is currently under development.
One other notable feature of Watanabe's imagination is his orientation toward fluids, movement, and floating. This is manifested in the novel “Ryutai-Toshi (Liquid City)”,[37] the floating sensation of "JELLY FISH", the swaying of "FIBER WAVE", the fountain glass of "NY Transparent Toilet", the ripples of "TOKYO HOUSE", and the sense of speed at "K-MUSEUM" / "ShinMinamata Station".
In addition, he has received numerous awards both in Japan and abroad, including for his artwork “FIBER WAVE” [38][39] (1995). He has also authored many books, and served as a university professor at home and abroad. (His major Works, Competitions, Research, Teaching professions, Awards, and Publications are listed in the latter section.)
Some reviews by experts
Aoyama Technical College, TokyoAOYAMA TECHNICAL COLLEGEWEB FRAME of Subway Station Iidabashi: A mesh-formed structure generated by a computer program that solves the necessary conditions is deployed in the underground space.WING of Subway Station Iidabashi: Preliminary trial model of the 'right member in the right place' structure being possible when the structural optimization program is completed.
INDUCTION DESIGN "Subway Station Iidabashi (the first realised version of Induction Design) is the first work of architecture in the world generated by the computer program."[40] (Antonino Saggio, Professor, Faculty of Architecture, University of Rome)
"The attempt of 'INDUCTION DESIGN' is a grand 'Analysis-by-Synthesis' to understand and generate the city as a complex system. Also, I believe that this challenge will provide us with many suggestions for the profound question, 'What is a living system?' " [41] (Kazuyuki Aihara, Professor, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences/Complex Science and Engineering, The University of Tokyo)
"Moreover, Watanabe, by simulating the natural laws of growth through computing, ignores the compositional paradigm—an obsolete straitjacket that still confines architecture today."[42] (Christian GIRARD, Ecole Nationale Supérieur d'Architecture de Paris Malaquais, Digital Knowledge)
AOYAMA TECHNICAL COLLEGE "At such a time, a challenging architecture that dares to go against the flow has emerged, with a presence that is not an overstatement to call it arrogance, which is the privilege of only the truly eccentric, not the fake existence."[43] (Kobun Ito, Architectural Criticism, Editor-in-Chief of “SD” magazine)
SUBWAY STATION / IIDABASHI " When you actually experience the station space, you will realize the architects' ability to integrate and complete this work, on a level other than its visual impact. Acquired through persistent collaboration with civil engineering, this subway station space has a quality that goes beyond the surface. " (Reasons for the JIA award, as stated by the judges)
" An ingenious proposal for a public facility that tends to be stuck in place due to customary constraints. “ (Akiko Takahashi, Architect, JIA New Designer Award Jury Critique)
JELLY FISH "A utopia so utopian that it seems unthinkable."[17] (Kijo Rokkaku, architect)
"The properties of one react to those of the other, by the intermediary of light: liquid at the sharp edges, which seem to have been cut directly from the ocean; evanescent solid, like a piece of molded atmosphere."[16] (FRAC Centre-Val de Loire)
ORE-X " The overall intention of the work comes at you strongly. " (Tadao Ando, architect)
Other
K-MUSEUM In Harutoshi Fukui's novel “ Op. Rose Dust ”[44] 2006, a group of terrorists hacks and reverses the vacuum dust collection system of the Rinkai Fukutoshin Kyodo Trench (utility tunnel) and sends bombs (not garbage) to various parts of the city in an attempt to destroy the entire city. At the beginning of the afterword of the paperback edition, Shinya Hashizume mentions “ K-MUSEUM ”[45] and the planning philosophy of this city, and describes the intention of the utility tunnel. (Although “ K-MUSEUM ” is described there as planned as a pavilion for the World City Expo, it was actually completed as a permanent facility in 1996, after the cancellation of the Expo in 1995.)
The “ K-MUSEUM ” was closed for reasons of declining attendance and remained intact for 23 years before being dismantled in December 2024.[46] " The ' K-MUSEUM ' was originally a facility that was combined with a tour of the main body of the utility tunnel (communal ditch). Still, since that crucial tour of the utility tunnel was discontinued, the small-scale ' K-MUSEUM ' cannot function on its own. Therefore, it is only natural that the number of visitors to the museum has decreased. The ' K-MUSEUM ' could have been newly used as one of the places for urban tourism in Tokyo ", said Watanabe.[47]
Intelligent CAD An Intelligent CAD with the ability to generate a design that solves a given set of conditions, as in " INDUCTION DESIGN ", will emerge, Watanabe said in 2002. " Intelligent CAD&CG should eventually emerge--the emergence of iCAD. You can call it agent CAD, just like an agent goes into an Internet search engine. "[48] As in the “ KeiRiki (Form-Force) ” program[49] implemented in the “ ShinMinamata MON ”[50] 2003, programs for structural high adaptation (generating forms that are rational in terms of structural mechanics) have been commercialized later under names such as generative design, topology optimization, etc. (It was in 2018, 15 years after “ KeiRiki (Form-Force) ”, that generative design was implemented in AutoCAD's Fusion 360.[51]
Cupola of Flame The “ Cupola of Flame ” [52][53] 1971, which received the highest score in an on-day design competition for all second-to-fourth-year students when Watanabe was a second-year undergraduate student at the university, was a proposal for a canopy using a hot air balloon. Half a century later, in 2024, an Olympic torch stand with a similar idea appeared in Paris.[54]
Transparent Toilet " N.Y. Transparent Toilet ",[55][56][57][58][59] a 1993 design awarded in an international competition, was a pioneering concept for a transparent toilet featuring light-controlled glass.
Angels He created numerous drawings, both hand-drawn and AI-collaborated, and in his newer works, angels are often depicted floating in the air. However, every angel is in the back view.[60]
AItect series (Design Support AI Program Development)[80]
2001--
AItect - Subsidized Research: MITOU (programs for the next generation IT innovation leaders) by IPA 'Sensory-sensitive Architecture and Urbanism Generation Program' AI program: program of FLOW[2]
2001 - 2003
2004
TX Kashiwanoha-Campus Station (program of FLOW )[33][34]
AItect - Subsidized Research: CREST (Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology) by JST 'Bayesian Optimization in Architectural Design' AI program: pBM = project Beautiful Mind (Joint Research with the University of Tokyo)[35][36]
2017- 2023--
Organizer: ALGODeQ: ALGOrithmic Design Quest international programming competition[81]
2013 - 2014
Organizer: AQS: Algorithmic design Quest international Symposium[82]
2015
Professorships
University
Position
Period
Tamkang University (Taiwan) Faculty of Engineering Department of Architecture
Chair Professor
2005-2010
Okayama Prefectural University Faculty of Design, Department of Architecture
Professor
2010-2013
Tokyo City University Faculty of Urban Life Studies
1 2 SD, Kajima Institute Publishing, Dec. 1990, p. 12.
1 2 Summary of Academic Lectures, Architectural Institute of Japan, On Demand City: planning of functions, using computer programs, 5283, 1997, pp.563-564.
1 2 Nikkei architecture, Nikkei Business Publications, 10 Oct. 1994, pp. 154-157.
1 2 Mall, Convenience Store, and Soho: Urban populism brought about by digitalization, NTT Publishing, Dec. 2002, p. 63.
1 2 Christian GIRARD,Ecole Nationale Supérieur d'Architecture de Paris Malaquais, Digital Knowledge, Emeritus.
1 2 INDUCTION DESIGN, English edition, Birkhäuser, Italian edition, Testo & Immagine, 2002, preface.
1 2 Kentiku wa yawarakai kagaku ni tikazuku ( Evolutionary Design ), Kentikushiryo-kenkyu-sha, 2002, preface.
1 2 Kentiku wa yawarakai kagaku ni tikazuku ( Evolutionary Design ), Kentikushiryo-kenkyu-sha, 2002, p. 82.
1 2 Journal of Architecture and Building Science, Is Thinking catching up with Technology: the start of algorithmic design, Architectural Institute of Japan, AIJ Prize for works, Oct. 2005, pp. 14-18.
1 2 3 Architectural Institute of Japan, Information Systems Technology Committee, 38th Symposium on Information Systems Applications and Technology, Abstracts, ' Can AI make designs? ', Dec. 2015, pp. 313-316.
↑ Journal of Architecture and Building Science, Architectural Institute of Japan, CG and Model: Hyogo Performing Arts Center Selected Proposal April 1993, pp.12-13.
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