L’évolution de l’architecture de Takamatsu Shin et le passage à l’ère Heisei : continuité ou fluctuation ?

The architect Takamatsu Shin stood out in the 1980s and the 1990s for his machine-like buildings of monumental proportions. Drawing from a recent interview, his writings and his buildings, this article delves into the influence of the bursting of the financial and real estate bubble (1991), the Kobe earthquake (1995), and increased environmental degradation on his work. While Takamatsu’s architecture is persistently monumental in its endeavours, his design evolves as it increasingly considers local contexts through the development of a “marginal space”, the choice of shareable metaphorical images and materials such as wood. Despite the continuity in his intentions, the fluctuations inherent to the socio-economic upheaval in Japan and in the world are reflected.