Kengo Kuma
Firm : Kengo Kuma & Associates.
Location : Tokyo, Japan.
Honors : Japan Institute of Architects Sustainable Architecture Award; Ordre des Arts et des Lettres; Spirit of Nature Wood Architecture Award.
Bio : Kengo Kuma is one of the most significant contemporary Japanese architects. His poetics express the emotional content of materials, connected with their intrinsic characteristics in construction and with the teachings of Japanese tradition. Born in Yokohama in 1954, Kuma studied at Tokyo University, graduating in 1979. In 1987 he opened Spatial Design Studio, and in 1990 Kengo Kuma & Associates, based in Tokyo. In 2008 he also opened an office in Paris. Kuma currently teaches at the Graduate School of Architecture of Tokyo University, while in the past he has taught at Keio University and been a visiting professor at the University of Illinois and Columbia University. His work has been internationally acknowledged and received prestigious awards such as the Spirit of Nature Wood Architecture Award (Finland), the Grand Prize for JCD Design Award 1995 Cultural / Public Institutions for Kiro-san Observatory in Ehime, and the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s Art Encouragement Prize for Yusuhara Wooden Bridge Museum.
Completed Projects :
For the Pigment Store in Tokyo, Kengo Kuma Thought Like An Artist
Funky Chicken: Kengo Kuma Reimagines Tetchan Restaurant
From A Simpler Time: SunnyHills by Kengo Kuma
Latte in the Land of Tea: Starbucks Comes to Fukuoka, Japan
Head in the Clouds: Kengo Kuma Designs an Etherial Shanghai Boutique
Something to Sink Your Teeth Into: GC Prostho Research Center and Gallery in Kasugai, Japan
In the News :
Memo from Shanghai: New Builds by Perkins+Will, Kengo Kuma, Benoy, and More
On the Rise: New Builds in Tokyo by Herzog & de Meuron, Renzo Piano, Moriyuki Ochiai, Nendo and more
