Architect Kiyonori Kikutake was born on April 1, 1928, in Fukuoka Prefecture. He passed away on December 26, 2011. He won numerous competitions during his student days. After graduating from the Department of Architecture at the School of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, he joined Takenaka Corporation in 1950. He joined Mori Architects in 1952, and opened his own firm, Kikutake Architects, in 1953. In 1963, he published his unique design theory, "Metabolic Architecture: Ka, Kata, Kata." From the late 1960s to the 1970s, together with Kisho Kurokawa and others, he advocated "Metabolism," a philosophy that advocates for cities and architecture that grow organically in response to social change and population growth. He designed the Expo Tower for the 1970 Osaka Expo and the Aquapolis for the 1975 Okinawa Ocean Expo. He was also involved in many international expositions in Japan, including the 2005 Aichi Expo, where he served as general producer and responsible for planning the venue. His representative works include the Edo-Tokyo Museum and the Hotel Sofitel Tokyo in Ueno (now demolished).

He was active worldwide, and in 2000 he was selected as one of the "100 World Architects Who Shaped This Century" at the Yugoslavia Biennale. He passed away in December 2011 at the age of 83.