Kengo Kuma

Kengo Kuma’s work masterfully engages experimentation, traditional Japanese design, and advanced technology. This results in highly innovative yet beautifully simple, evocative, and human-scaled structures. Kengo Kuma: Substance explores a selection of the architect’s work through six materials. The thirty-five projects from around the world range from captivating wood pavilions, ethereal metal installations, and sculptural woven structures to experiential stone monuments, intricate bamboo tea houses, and luminous shape-shifting domes. Insightful narratives detail the concept and craftmanship of each structure, and beautiful imagery showcases how Kuma’s architectural designs are conceived and constructed. By experimenting with materials and ideas, Kuma seeks to restore the relationship between people, buildings, and nature, and foster a greater sense of humanity in architecture. Kengo Kuma: Substance will be a prized addition for architects, designers, and fans of Kengo Kuma. It is also a valuable resource for those interested in the fusion of traditional and contemporary architecture, design, craftsmanship, and technology. 

Kengo Kuma decided at a young age to pursue architecture, having been inspired by Kenzo Tange’s Yoyogi National Gymnasium, built for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. He studied architecture at the University of Tokyo and received his master’s degree in 1979. In 1990, he established Kengo Kuma & Associates (KKAA). Headquartered in Tokyo, the firm also has offices in Paris, Beijing, Shanghai, and Seoul, and Kengo Kuma & Associates projects are currently underway in more than fifty countries. Kengo is currently a university professor and professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, and a member of the Japan Art Academy after teaching at Keio University and the University of Tokyo.