page_title: Kengo Kuma
section_title: Material theory
hierarchical_section_title: Kengo Kuma / Philosophy and writings / Material theory
caption_attribution_description: English: "Great (Bamboo) Wall" designed by Kengo Kuma, in "Commune by the Great Wall, Beijing, China.
context_page_description: Kengo Kuma is a Japanese architect and professor in the Department of Architecture at the University of Tokyo. Frequently compared to contemporaries Shigeru Ban and Kazuyo Sejima, Kuma is also noted for his prolific writings. He is the designer of the New National Stadium, Tokyo which has been built for 2020 Summer Olympics.
context_section_description: 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 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.
  When dealing with stone work, for example, Kuma displays a different character from the preexisting buildings of solid, heavy, traditional masonry construction. Instead his work surprises the eye by slimming down and dissolving the walls in an effort to express a certain “lightness” and immateriality, suggesting an illusion of ambiguity and weakness not common to the solidity of stone construction.
  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 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.
caption: Commune by the Great Wall of China
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