The Mori Art Museum was never an institution to do things by half, and their latest endeavor is, in effect, nothing less than an exhaustive survey of the major currents in contemporary architecture since the second half of the twentieth century. The exhibition is organized with the FRAC Centre in Orleans, France, from whose collection the majority of the exhibits have been borrowed. The FRAC Centre has been accumulating materials related to architecture and art - particularly with a view to utopian ideas in these fields - for fifty years, and for the last number of years it has been holding an exhibition and event in Orleans called Archilab. The Archilab exhibition at the Mori is the first to be held outside Europe.

Considering the vast output covered here, it is gratifying to see the strong presence of Japanese architects, whom I shall focus on in this article, reflecting their increasingly respected position in contemporary architecture since the sixties.

The first section looks at new ideas concerning architecture's interaction with the environment, a development typified perhaps by the curvilinear organic buildings by Chaneac and others which attempt to instigate a closer relationship between mankind and nature. Striving to redefine our concept of the city, the 1960's British architectural group Archigram experimented with versatile, mobile living structures made up of easily transportable, interconnected cells or units. Archigram's "Instant City" (1968-1970) is a floating web of balloons that could be grafted onto existing structures to make a new portable city. However, the imaginative sci-fi designs of Archigram (itself the subject of an upcoming exhibition at Art Tower Mito from January 2005) were largely unrealized, either due to a lack of technology or simply for being too far ahead of their time for the European market.

It is interesting that similarly way-out designs by the Metabolist group of Japanese architects of the same period made it beyond the drawing board to actual construction. Perhaps this is because of an optimistic and future-oriented climate in Japan in the sixties, which had less of an aversion to mass-produced homes than the West. It would have been useful if more information was given here on the role played by such local expectations, demands and prejudices in the inspiration and eventual outcome of architectural designs. With so much of the exhibition from around the globe, it is too easy to fall into the habit of viewing the architectural developments on display as abstract designs free of the cultural restraints that undoubtedly affected them.

Metabolist Kurokawa Kisho is probably best known for the prefab units of his Nakagin Capsule Tower, built in the Ginza district of Tokyo in 1972 and still a popular residence today. Archilab, however, concentrates on his contribution to the 1970 Osaka Expo - the Capsule House in the Theme Pavilion (otherwise known as the Takara Beautillion) - a remarkable piece of design and one of the hallmarks of futuristic Japanese architecture. Attached to the ceiling of the Expo's scaffolding, self-contained units offer a complete and thoroughly modernized living environment which perhaps seems alienating for Westerners but for Japanese could well be an attractive alternative to cramped urban dwellings that provide little privacy.

Other architects who started in the Metabolist group and went on to become leading Japanese architectural figures include Kikutake Kiyonori and Maki Fumihiko.

The title of Maki's Golgi Structures of 1967 reflects the Metabolists' concept of a dynamic, living architecture (hence their Metabolist tag) - Golgi is a biological term used in cell research. This "High Density Conceptual Urban Structure" from 1967 brings an aesthetically pleasing solution to the high-rise phenomenon in the form of a network of circular buildings fanning out variously in closed-off or half-open shapes, accommodating a large number of inhabitants.

The last section looks at how recent advances in computer technology allow architects to manufacture hitherto problematic designs directly from their computers, allowing for more fluid and complicated shapes and an imaginative use of space and materials. Here, we return to the theme that started this article - a renewed look at man's relationship with his environment. One of the delights of Archilab is Ito Toyo's unfortunately unbuilt plan for the "Forum for Music, Dance and Visual Culture, Ghent" in Belgium. The key theme in this work seems to be "openness" in a variety of manifestations. Having no main entrance, the center is easily approachable from any part of the busy city center in which it is located and the glass facade also leaves the building open to sunlight. Traditional designations of Floor 1, Floor 2, etc. are replaced by multi-levelled sections at 50cm intervals that allow for more dynamic and free use of space.

Archilab is a must-see for anyone keen on contemporary architecture in general, and there is plenty to interest those looking for examples of Japanese architects' projects in particular. Other Japanese architects featured include Aoki Jun, Isosaki Arata, Ando Tadao, Endo Shuhei, Shigeru Ban, Abe Hitoshi and Kuma Kengo.