The GSD remembers Fumihiko Maki MArch ’54 who passed away on June 6, 2024, at the age of 95. In 1993, he was awarded the prestigious Pritzker Prize, and in 2011, he received the Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects. “Celebrated for his modernist approach, Maki was responsible for significant works, including the 4 World Trade Center, a skyscraper at the site of the former World Trade Center in New York. Maki was recognized in the architecture industry various times, including receiving the Pritzker Prize and becoming the 67th AIA Gold Medalist. His influence in inventing a unique modernist style of Japanese origin cannot be underscored.”

Born in Tokyo in 1928, Maki’s academic journey started at the University of Tokyo, followed by advanced studies at the GSD. He later went on to teach both architecture and urbanism at the GSD and Washington University.

At the GSD in 2014, Maki provided retrospective reflections on his six-decade-long architectural career as part of the Grounded Visionaries campaign launch. He reminisced on his work with many of the school’s earliest leaders in the 1950s.

Read more about Maki’s life and legacy.