Kengo Kuma. Time flows, and so does architecture

As part of the Time-Space-Existence video interviews for the Venice Architecture Biennale 2018, the Japanese architect talks about his practice.

The third episode of the Time-Space-Existence series features an interview to Kengo Kuma. The Japanese architect reflects on how being humble is an attitude hard to achieve, talks about the architecture as monument that shifts to architecture as environment and explains his working method when facing a new project.

Time-Space-Existence: Kengo Kuma

Video by PLANE–SITE, 2017

  Kengo Kuma is one of Japan’s most significant living architects, thanks to his sophisticated integrations of traditional architecture with cutting-edge technologies. Sensitive to materiality and technique, Kuma’s designs are very tactile, often resembling hand-woven fabrics or an ornate beehive. In this short video Kuma draws us into his world, meditating on the ebb and flow of being an architect, and how a financial crash became an opportunity for learning.

Kengo Kuma & Associates, Asakusa Culture and Tourism Center, Tokyo, 2012. Photo Takeshi Yamagishi
Kengo Kuma & Associates, Asakusa Culture and Tourism Center, night view, Tokyo, 2012. Photo Takeshi Yamagishi
Kengo Kuma & Associates, Noh Stage in the Forest, Toyoma-machi, Tome-shi, Miyagi, Japan, 1996. Photo Mitsumasa Fujitsuka
Kengo Kuma & Associates, Noh Stage in the Forest, Japan, 1996. Photo Mitsumasa Fujitsuka
Kengo Kuma & Associates, River/Filter, Fukushima, Japan, 1996. Photo Mitsumasa Fujitsuka
Kengo Kuma & Associates, SunnyHills at Minami-Aoyama, Tokyo, 2013. Photo Daici Ano
Kengo Kuma & Associates, SunnyHills at Minami-Aoyama, Tokyo, 2013. Photo Daici Ano

Produced by PLANE–SITE, the video has been commissioned by the GAA Foundation and funded by the ECC in the run-up to the Time-Space-Existence exhibition during next Venice Architecture Biennale, opening May 2018.

  • form 26 May to 25 November 2018
  • 16th International Architecture Exhibition
  • Time–Space–Existence
  • PLANE–SITE / plane-site.com
  • GAA Foundation
  • European Cultural Centre
  • Palazzo Bembo, Riva del Carbon 4793-4785, Venice
  • Palazzo Mora, Strada Nova 3659, Venice