Kengo Kuma

Biography

Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Architect Kengo Kuma

1954 Born in Kanagawa Prefecture

1979 Completed the Master Course, Department of Architecture, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo

1985-86 Visiting Scholar Graduate School, Columbia University and Asian Cultural Council

1987 Established Spatial Design Studio

1990 Established Kengo Kuma & Associates

1994 Lecturer at the Graduate Shool of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University

1998-99 Professor at the Faculty of Environmental Information, Keio University

2001-09 Professor at the Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University

2008 Established Kuma & Associates Europe

2008 Invited Professor at the School of Architecture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2009 Professor at the Graduate School of Architecture, The University of Tokyo

Kengo Kuma was born in Kanagawa, Japan in 1954. He completed his master’s degree at the University of Tokyo in 1979. From 1985 to 1986, he studied at Columbia University as Visiting Scholar. He established Kengo Kuma & Associates in 1990 in Aoyama, Tokyo. From 2001 to 2008 he taught at the Faculty of Science and Technology at Keio University. In 2009 he was installed as professor of the University of Tokyo.

Among Kuma’s major works are the Kirosan Observatory (1995), Water/Glass (1995, for which he received the AIA Benedictus Award), Venice Biennale/Space Design of Japanese Pavilion (1995), Stage in Forest, Toyoma Center for Performance Arts (1997, for which he received the 1997 Architectural Institute of Japan Annual Award), Stone Museum (2000, for which he received International Stone Architecture Award 2001), Bato-machi Hiroshige Museum (2001, for which he received The Murano Prize). Recent works include Great Bamboo Wall (2002, Beijing, China), Nagasaki Prefectural Museum (2005, Nagasaki, Japan), Suntory Museum of Art (2007, Tokyo, Japan), and Nezu Museum (2009, Tokyo, Japan).

A number of large-scale projects are now going on in Europe and China, such as an arts centre in Besancon City, France, and the development of the Sanlitun District in Beijing, China. He was awarded the International Spirit of Nature Wood Architecture Award in 2002 (Finland), International Architecture Awards for the Best New Global Design for “Chokkura Plaza and Shelter” in 2007, and Energy Performance + Architecture Award in 2008 (France).

1993

Second Prize, Niigata City Performing Arts Center Competition / Niigata, Niigata, Japan

Second Prize, Abashiri Urban Planning Competition / Abashiri, Hokkaido, Japan

1996

Third Prize, Proposal for the Nagaoka Culture Forum Design Competition / Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan

2002

First Prize, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Exhibition Center Competition / Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan

First Prize, Mori Building Corporation Odaiba Museum Competition / Minato, Tokyo, Japan

2007

First Prize, Besancon City of Arts and Culture Architecture Competition / Besancon, France

First Prize, Architectural Competition for the Complex of Government Buildings related to the area of the “Eiffel Hall”－Western Railway Station of Budapest / Budapest, Hungary

First Prize, Contemporary Art Center (FRAC) / Marseille, France

2008

First Prize, Granada Performing Arts Center Competition / Granada, Spain

First Prize, International Invited Competition for iconic park and mixed development in Iskandar Malaysia / Johor-Bahru, Malaysia

First Prize, Commercial and environmental design proposal for the Central Post Office Competition / Tokyo, Japan

First Price, Granada Performing Arts Center / Granada, Spain

First Prize, Asakusa Culture and Tourist Center Competition / Tokyo, Japan

Kengo Kuma, 10 Houses, Toso Publishing, Tokyo, 1986. Republished in paperback, Chikuma Publishing, 1990

Kengo Kuma, Introduction to Architecture-History and Ideology, Chikuma Publishing, Tokyo, 1994

Kengo Kuma, Catastrophe of Architectural Desire, Shin’yosha, Tokyo, 1994

Kengo Kuma, Beyond the Architectural Crisis, TOTO Publishing, Tokyo, 1995

Kengo Kuma, Anti-Object, Chikuma Publishing, Tokyo 2000

Kengo Kuma, Defeated Architecture, Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo 2004

Kengo Kuma, Lecture and Dialogue, INAX Publishing, 2007

Kengo Kuma and Yumi Kiyono, Shin Toshi-ron Tokyo (A New Debate on Cities), Shueisha Publishing, Tokyo, 2008

Kengo Kuma, A Natural Architecture, Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo, 2008

1994

Good Design Architecture for “Yusuhara Visitor’s Center”, selected by the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry

1995

Grand Prize for JCD Design Award 1995 Cultural / Public Institutions for “Kiro-san Observatory”

1997

Architectural Institute of Japan Award for “Noh Stage in the Forest”

First Place, AIA DuPONT Benedictus Award for “Water/Glass”

Grand Prize, Regional Design Award, Kochi Prefecture, for “Yusuhara Visitor’s Center”

1999

Honorable Mention, Boston Society of Architecture, Unbuilt Architecture Design Award 2000

2000

Grand Prize, Prize of AIJ, Tohoku Chapter for Design for “River/ Filter”

Grand Prize, INTER INTRA SPACE design selection for “Kitakami Canal Museum”

Director General of Forestry Agency Prize for “Nakagawa-machi Bato Hiroshige Museum”

2001

Togo Murano Award and Architectural Institute Award for “Nakagawa-machi Bato Hiroshige Museum”

International Stone Architecture Award for “Stone Museum”, Italy

2002

Spirit of Nature Wood Architecture Award, Finland

2005

The Marble Architecture Award 2005 East Asia External Facings 1st prize for “Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum”

2007

Detail Prize 2007 special prize for ’Chokkura Plaza and Shelter”

International Architecture Award for the Best New Global Design for “Chokkura Plaza and Shelter”

2008

Energy Performance + Architecture Award, France

Emirates Leaf Award for Public Building for Suntory Museum of Art, Britain/UAE

Bobat 2008 for SAKENOHANA, France

2009

d’Officier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France

2010

Green GOOD DESIGN Award for ‘Yusuhara Town Hall’, from The Chicago Athenaeum Museum and The European Design for Architecture and Art Design

2011

Mainichi Award for the Arts (Nezu Museum)

1992

Solo Exhibition “Tokyo Columns” / M2, Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan

1993

City of Labyrinth / Sezon Museum of Art, Toshimaku, Tokyo/Tsukashin Hall, Amagasaki, Hyogo, Japan

1995

Solo Exhibition “Velocity of Transmission” / Gallery MA, Minato, Tokyo, Japan

Venice Biennale 1995 / Venice, Italy

1996

Milan Triennial / Milan, Italy

1997

Virtual Architecture /The University Museum, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan

2000

Venice Biennale 2000 / Venice, Italy

ARCHI LAB 2000 / Orleans, France

2001

Japanese Avant-Garde / Reality Projection, 16 Young Japanese Architects / RIBA, London, Great Britain

2002

ARCHI LAB 2002 / Orleans, France

Venice Biennale 2002 / Venice, Italy

2004

Takeo Paper Show 2004 “HAPTIC” / Spiral, Minato, Tokyo, Japan

Venice Biennale 2004 / Venice, Italy

New Trends of Architecture in Europe and Asia-Pacific 2004-2005 / Lille, France

Solo Exhibition “Kengo Kuma: Defeated Architecture” / Matsuya Ginza, Chuo, Tokyo, Japan

Solo Exhibition “Niwa; Where the Particle Response” / Hotel New Otani Garden Court, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan

The “3_2_1_New architecture in Japan and Poland” Exhibition / Center of Japanese and Technology “Manggha”, Krakow, Poland

Archilab / Mori Art Museum, Minato, Tokyo, Japan

2005

OribeTea House / Ceramics Park Mino, Tajimi, Gifu, Japan

Entrez Lantement, E-11117 / Milan, Italy

Solo Exhibition “Kengo Kuma, The architecture between tradition and innovation” / Siracusa/Milan/Napoli, Italy and Stockholm, Sweden

EXTREME EURASIA / Spiral, Minato, Tokyo, Japan

KRUG x KUMA=∞ / Hara Museum, Minato, Tokyo, Japan

Solo Exhibition “Kuma Mock-Ups” / GA Gallery, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

2006

GA International 2006 / GA Gallery, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

Solo Exhibition “ARCHILAB 2006” / Orleans, France

2007

100 years of Mondadori Milano Capitale del Design Decode Elements / Castello Sforzesco, Milan, Italy

Swarovski Crystal Palace / Swarovski Crystal Palace, Milan, Italy

Tokyo Design Premio Tokyo Designer’s Week in Milan / Tokyo Design Room, Milan, Italy

Mitsui Fudosan Residential “Tsunagu” / Mitsui Fudosan Residential Booth, Milan, Italy

Kengo Kuma Two Carps: Water/Land-Village/Urban-Phenomenology, The “Barbara Cappochin” Biennal, International Architectural Exhibition 2007 edition / Palazzo dela Ragione, Padova, Italy

2008

Participation in Milano Salone (Casa Umbrella) / Milano, Italy

11th International Architecture Biennale / Venice, Italy

Solo Exhibition “Material Immaterial” / I-Space, Chicago, Illinois, United States

2009

Fiber ’09 Senseware, Trienale di Milano

‘Studies in Organic’, Kengo Kuma Solo Exhibition / Gallery MA, Tokyo