Organic Architecture That's Connected To Nature
Singapore Tatler Homes|December - January 2019

Design guru Kengo Kuma thinks of buildings as organic bodies—he discusses the tectonic shift he sees in the architecture of the future

Marianna Cerini
Organic Architecture That's Connected To Nature

Kengo Kuma believes blockbuster architecture has had its day. The Japanese architect, one of the most acclaimed of our time, is convinced that huge skyscrapers and looming concrete complexes will be things of the past within a few years. “We’re entering the era of personalised architecture,” he declares. “The shift is already happening. People have a yearning for softer, more human-focused shapes.” Such thoughts might sound idealistic, but they underpin the core of Kuma’s practice: a preoccupation with the individual.

The 63-year-old design guru was in Hong Kong to give a talk at Whitestone Gallery in H Queen’s, a gallery that specialises in Japanese art and whose interiors he designed. Tall and dressed head to toe in black, he looks intimidatingly stern when we meet. As he delves into the philosophy of his work, however, his whole demeanour brightens. “I think of buildings as human bodies,” he says. “They need to have a soul of sorts and work as natural environments.”

NATURAL BALANCE

Kuma has been exploring this approach since he began studying the discipline at the University of Tokyo in 1979, although his fascination with buildings started much earlier, when he was 10. “It was 1964, the year of the summer Olympics in Tokyo,” he says. “My father took me to see architect Kenzo Tange’s Yoyogi National Gymnasium, a masterpiece of Japanese modernism. I decided I wanted to become an architect then.”

この記事は Singapore Tatler Homes の December - January 2019 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

この記事は Singapore Tatler Homes の December - January 2019 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

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