The talk will serve as the Sam Fox Arts Center Lecture.

Fumihiko Maki

Maki, principal of Maki & Associates in Tokyo, is renowned for fusing elements of Eastern and Western culture in monumental buildings that harmonize with their natural and urban environments.

From 1956-1963, he taught in the School of Architecture and was instrumental in founding the master of urban design program. During that time, Maki received his first commission, completing early designs for Steinberg Hall, dedicated in 1960.

The Sam Fox Arts Center will include two new Maki-designed buildings — the 65,000 square-foot Museum Building and the 38,000 square-foot Earl E. and Myrtle E. Walker Hall — integrated with Steinberg and Givens halls as well as the School of Art's adjacent Bixby Hall. A public groundbreaking ceremony will be held April 14.

Maki's projects in the United States include the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco — a collaboration with School of Architecture alum Harish A. Shah, now principle of Shah Kawasaki Architects in Oakland and project architect for the Sam Fox Arts Center — and the 197,000 square-foot extension for Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab.

He was one of three architects recently selected to contribute tower designs for the former World Trade Center site.

Maki's talk is free and open to the public. A reception will be held at 5:30 p.m. in Givens Hall.

For more information, call 935-6200.