Artist of the day: Artist of the Day, May 21, 2026 : Kengo Kuma, a Japanese architect (#2532)

Thursday, May 21, 2026

Artist of the Day, May 21, 2026 : Kengo Kuma, a Japanese architect (#2532)

Kengo Kuma (1954) is a Japanese architect and emeritus professor in the Department of Architecture at the University of Tokyo. Frequently compared to contemporaries Shigeru Ban and Kazuyo Sejima, he is also noted for his prolific writings. Kuma is the designer of the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo, built for the 2020 Summer Olympics. In politics, he is an advisor for the city of Kitakyushu.

Kuma was born in Kanagawa, and attended Eiko Gakuen Junior and Senior High School. After graduating in architecture from the University of Tokyo in 1979, he worked for a time at Nihon Sekkei and Toda Corporation. He then moved to New York City for further studies at Columbia University as a visiting researcher from 1985 to 1986.

In 1987, Kuma founded the Spatial Design Studio, and in 1990, he established his own firm, Kengo Kuma & Associates. He has taught at Columbia University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Keio University, where in 2008, Kuma was awarded a Ph.D. degree in architecture. As a professor at the Graduate School of Architecture at the University of Tokyo, he runs a variety of research projects concerning architecture, urbanism and design within his laboratory, Kuma Lab. Kengo Kuma & Associates employs over 300 architects in Tokyo, China (Beijing and Shanghai) and Paris, designing projects of diverse type and scale throughout the world.

Kuma's stated goal is to recover the tradition of Japanese buildings and to reinterpret these traditions for the 21st century. Kuma lectures extensively and is the author of numerous books and articles discussing and criticizing approaches in contemporary architecture.] In 2008 Kuma's Anti-Object: The Dissolution and Disintegration of Architecture, was published in English by the Architectural Association.

Although remaining in continuity with Japanese traditions with the clarity of structural solutions, implied tectonics, and importance of light and transparency, Kuma does not restrain himself to the banal and superficial use of ‘light’ materials. Instead, he goes much deeper, extending to the mechanisms of composition to expand the possibilities of materiality. He utilizes technological advancements which can challenge unexpected materials, such as stone, into providing the same sense of lightness and softness as glass or wood. Kuma attempts to attain a sense of spatial immateriality as a consequence of the ‘particulate nature’ of the light and establishing a relationship between a space and the natural round[clarification needed] around it.

Describing his practice, Kuma said "You could say that my aim is 'to recover the place'. The place is a result of nature and time; this is the most important aspect. I think my architecture is some kind of frame of nature. With it, we can experience nature more deeply and more intimately. Transparency is a characteristic of Japanese architecture; I try to use light and natural materials to get a new kind of transparency."

In many of Kuma’s projects, attention is focused on the connection spaces; on the segments between inside and outside, and one room to the next. The choice of materials stems not so much from an intention to guide the design of the forms, but to conform to the existing surroundings from a desire to compare similar materials, yet show the technical advances that have made possible new uses.

In parallel, Kuma showed material innovation to support local traditional craftsmanship through his works. Collaborating with Japanese craftsmen specialized in wood, earth or paper, he helped in maintaining the associated building techniques while modernizing them, bringing his know-how in modularity. This work led Kuma to win a Global Award for Sustainable Architecture in 2016.

In 2016, Kuma also delved into designing pre-fabricated pavilions in partnership with Revolution Precrafted. He designed the mobile multifunctional pavilion named The Aluminum Cloud Pavilion. The structure, composed of aluminum panels joined using Kangou technique, can be used as a teahouse or a space of meditation.

Kuma Lab is a Research Laboratory headed by Kuma based in the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering at the University of Tokyo's Hongo Campus that was started in 2009. In 2012, Kuma Lab published the book Patterns and Layering, Japanese Spatial Culture, Nature and Architecture, including the research from various Doctoral Candidate Lab members.

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