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​Kengo Kuma

architect. Born in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture. In 1979 (Showa 54), completed the master's program at the Department of Architecture, Graduate School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo. From 1985 to 1986, he was a visiting researcher in the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, Columbia University. Established Spatial Research Institute in 1987. Established Kengo Kuma & Associates in 1990 (Heisei 2). Since 2001, he has been a professor at the Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University.
In the 1980s, he boldly developed a post-modern design that cites past architecture. A series of works such as Architectural History Reconsideration (1989, Tokyo), RUSTIC (1991, Tokyo), and Doric (1991, Tokyo) are commercial buildings that reconstructed Western architectural styles as symbols. The M2 (commercial building, 1991, Tokyo) is the culmination of these approaches: a giant Ionian column, a glass box, and a project by Russian avant-garde architect Ivan Ilich Lonidov (1902-59). The vocabulary of various architectures, from classicalism to modernism, was studded in one architecture. Kuma advocates creating a chaotic situation by manipulating random collages and erasing the subject in architecture (diluting that architectural works are created by authoritative writers). .. M2 was also regarded as a symbol of Tokyo during the bubble era. Also, like Izu's bathhouse (1988), it is a general term for architecture whose form has burst (designs and methods of modern architecture, breaks away from the framework, destroyed and cut, and intentionally distorted designs. . Representative architects include Peter Eisenmann, Frank Gary, and Zaha Hadid).
Since the 1990s, he has broken away from post-modern expression and pursued a minimalist design that gives the opposite impression, but his attitude toward architecture as an architect has not changed. For example, he criticizes object-type architecture in which objects are projected from the environment, and raises the concept of "anti-object". At the Kirosan Observatory (1994, Ehime Prefecture, JCD Design Award), the stairs were embedded in the mountain, aiming for an invisible architecture. The guest house "Water / Glass" (1995, Shizuoka Prefecture, AIA (American Institute of Architects) DuPont Benedictus Award) is wrapped in transparent glass to create a space where the viewer can melt into water.
Kuma is also paying attention to the possibility of computers that erase "being architecture". The memorial park project (1998, Gunma Prefecture) is an attempt to connect real and virtual spaces where you can access the memories of the dead by walking in a garden dug into the ground. The Aichi Expo project also proposed that the forest be transformed into a nature museum by wearing goggles and walking in the forest.
As a design method, the heavy use of louvers (sunshades) and the experimental use of materials are noted. The Nakagawa Town Bato Hiroshige Museum of Art (2000, Tochigi Prefecture, Murano Togo Prize, Finnish International Wood Architecture Award) is composed of cedar louvers with thin roofs and walls. The Stone Museum (2000, Tochigi Prefecture, Italy International Stone Architecture Award) treats stones that tend to be heavy as light by cutting them into thin slices and designing porous stone walls. GREAT (BAMBOO) WALL (2002, Beijing) is a rough bamboo louver architecture that actively uses weak materials. In PLASTIC HOUSE (2002), thin louvers made of FRP (fiber reinforced plastic) and translucent walls of FRP panels create a space between nature and man-made.
Other major architectural works include Yusuhara Town Community Exchange Facility (1994, Kochi Prefecture. Good Design Award Facility Category Award, New Design Award Grand Prize), Commercial Facility "River / Filter" (1996, Fukushima Prefecture), Forest Stage / Miyagi Prefecture Tome City Traditional Performing Arts Center (1996. Japan Architecture Society Work Award), Kitakamigawa Exchange Center Water Cave (1999, Miyagi Prefecture), etc. His books include "Goodbye Postmodern" (1989), "10 Home Theory" (1990), "End of Architectural Desire", "Introduction to New Architecture" (1994), and "Beyond the Architectural Crisis" (1995). ), "Kengo Kuma Reader 1999" (1999), "Anti-Object" (2000), etc. [Taro Igarashi]
"Goodbye Postmodern" (1989, Kajima Institute Publishing) ▽ "End of Architectural Desire" (1994, Shinyosha) ▽ "Beyond the Architectural Crisis" (1995, TOTO Publishing) ▽ "Kengo Kuma Reader 1999" (1999, ADA Editor, Tokyo) ▽ "Anti-Object" (2000, Chikuma Shobo) ▽ "10 Home Theory" (Chikuma Bunko) ▽ "Introduction to New Architecture" (Chikuma New Book) ▽ "Labyrinth City" Exhibition Catalog ( 1993, Saison Museum) ▽ "SD" November 1997 issue (Kajima Institute Publishing) ▽ "JA" No. 38 (2000, New Architecture) "

Recommended video 1​ Kengo Kuma thinks about space from materials
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Recommended video 2​ Elements that make up the charm of a city
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Recommended video 2 Kengo Kuma and Kenji Kohashi talk about the future
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​I imagine that my building is a circle "wa", but I am not sticking to "wa", but on the contrary, I imagine that it will break down the new beauty and the concept of "wa". There is. Harmony using noise. It seems that the work is made to stand out by the noise that is not what I think is included in the harmony that the architecture is completed. What is Japanese aesthetics?

The poor generation became industrialized and the architectural design became uniform. Japan has a passive way of enjoying something that is accepted and enjoyed. Isn't it Japan's strength to accept and enjoy places and noise? What is your own style? I was influenced by the skills of local craftsmen. Diversity in the mountains. The potential of Japanese people who like manufacturing may be a certain possibility in the recession.

Architecture and Rhythm The relationship between architecture and music.

Architecture also has a sense of material rhythm, structural rhythm, and perceived values.

Recommended Video 3 "The Age of the Forest" by Kengo Kuma
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​～ Related books ～
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​~ Related architectural ideas ~
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