based upon his Helix City that could grow in 14 different directions and resemble organic growth. Expo '70 has been described has the apotheosis of the Metabolist movement. But even before Japan's period of rapid economic growth ended with the world energy crisis, critics were calling the Expo a dystopia that was removed from reality. The energy crisis demonstrated Japan's reliance both on imported oil and led to a re-evaluation of design and planning with architects moving away from utopian projects towards smaller urban interventions. Later years After the 1970 Expo, Tange and the Metabolists turned their attention away from Japan towards the Middle East and Africa. These countries were expanding on the back of income from oil and were fascinated by both Japanese culture and the expertise that the Metabolists brought to urban planning. Tange and Kurokawa capitalised on the majority of the commissions, but Kikutake and Maki were involved too. Tange's projects included a 57,000 seat stadium and sports center in Riyadh for King Faisal, and a sports city for Kuwait for the planned 1974 Pan Arab Games. However, both were put on hold by the outbreak of the Fourth Arab-Israeli War in 1973. Likewise, the plan for a new city center in Tehran was cancelled after the 1979 revolution. He did however complete the Kuwaiti Embassy in Tokyo in 1970 and Kuwait's International Airport, as well as the Presidential Palace in Damascus, Syria. Kurokawa's work included a competition win for Abu Dhabi's National Theatre (1977), capsule-tower designs for a hotel in Baghdad (1975) and a city in the desert in Libya (1979–1984). Kikutake's vision for floating towers was partly realised in 1975 when he designed and built the Aquapolis for the Okinawa Ocean Expo. The 100 x 100 meter floating city block contained accommodation that included a banquet hall, offices and residences for 40 staff and it was built in Hiroshima and then towed to Okinawa. Further unbuilt floating city projects were undertaken, including a floating city in Hawaii for ocean research and a plug-in floating A-frame unit containing housing and offices that could have been used to provide mobile homes in the event of a natural disaster. Footnotes References Kikutake Assocs, May–June 1970, "EXPO Tower", The Japan Architect . Pflumio, Cyril (2011) Je est une cabane dans le désert. Notes sur l'espace et l'architecture japonaise. (in French) Master's thesis, Strasbourg, Institut national des Sciences appliquées. Sasaki,