Kengo Kuma

Born in Kanagawa in 1954, his education and practice are deeply rooted in his country of origin. He studied at the Department of Architecture of the Graduate School of Engineering in Tokyo, where he graduated in 1979, before founding his own studio in Tokyo under the name Spatial Design Studio in 1987. From the evolution of this practice, Kuma would later conceive and develop projects all over the world. In Japan he also developed his teaching activity, at Keio University, combining it with many experiences as a visiting professor at prestigious universities such as Columbia GSAPP in New York.

While his earliest architectural expressions can be placed within a more evident postmodernism, as in the case of M2 in Setagaya-ku, Japan (1989–91), the characteristics of approach that would distinguish his work in the following decades, up to the present day, soon began to emerge. Kengo Kuma’s architecture stems from a profound sense of place, and from the use of its characteristics, or of a specific material, through an interpretative approach aimed at creating a particular atmosphere and experience for the user or inhabitant. Experience is the true object of Kengo Kuma’s design: an experience made of material, light, awareness of tradition, perception and place.