Summer Issue 2021 - 32

Kengo Kuma
Japanese Architect Kengo Kuma Says the Built
Environment Needs More Natural Approaches
Humanity has reached the limits of centralization
and scale, and needs a return to light,
space, and nature for fulfillment, says Japanese
architect Kengo Kuma.
Kuma, who has designed more than 300
architectural works since he began practicing
in 1990, addressed participants at the 2021
ULI Asia Pacific Summit, held virtually and in
person in Tokyo. Kuma, who presented his
ideas for post-pandemic design and architecture,
said, " We should be going back to nature
and back to decentralization. "
He talked the summit audience through
some of his recent projects, explaining the
concepts behind them. Kuma's buildings aim
to be open to the surrounding city, to nature,
and to the local population. Where possible,
he eschews the glass, steel, and concrete
used in most modern buildings in favor of
natural and local materials.
The new Tokyo Olympic Stadium, which
Kuma designed for the 2021 Summer Olympics,
builds on traditional Japanese techniques
and features substantial use of wood and natural
ventilation. He is passionate about keeping
traditional craftsmanship alive and is a firm
believer in using local materials and skills.
In designing the stadium, Kuma says he
believed that " we should open up the building
to nature as much as possible and bring
nature into the building. " The stadium design
was inspired by the seventh-century Horyu-Ji
Tokyo Olympic Stadium.
temple in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, Japan. The
temple has remained intact for hundreds of
years because of its use of natural materials
and crafters' skills, Kuma said. However, the
new stadium is no anachronism and used
modern techniques, such as computer modeling,
to ensure optimal natural ventilation and
avoid the need for air conditioning.
The stadium roof is built of steel and wood
to reduce weight. It also was inspired by traditional
Japanese architecture but uses modern
techniques and materials, including clear
glass photovoltaic roof panels.
Kuma has a long history of working in Europe,
particularly France, where he designed the new
Gare Saint-Denis Pleyel in Paris, which includes
sloping terraces around the train station that
" Before COVID, centralization was pushing
us to bigger buildings, taller buildings, and
denser buildings, but we need to go back to
nature as much as possible. "
KENGO KUMA
lead to a roof garden. " It is a station building but
will work as a park in the city, " Kuma said.
Other projects in Europe include the Victoria
and Albert Museum in Dundee, Scotland,
a dramatic riverside building that echoes
the sea cliffs of the Fife coast, and the Hans
Christian Andersen Museum in Odense, Denmark,
which is set in a series of gardens with
themes based on Andersen's fairy tales, favorites
from Kuma's boyhood.
A number of Japanese design concepts are
constants in his architecture. For example,
engawa-the space between house and garden,
sheltered but open to nature-can be seen in a
number of projects that have semi-open space
sheltered by overhanging eaves but are open
to public access. Other buildings are designed
to feature komorebi-the natural light seen in
forests-and openings reflecting the traditional
Japanese torii gate often can be seen.
Kuma concluded with a call to city planners
to change their mind-set. " Before COVID,
centralization was pushing us to bigger buildings,
taller buildings, and denser buildings,
but we need to go back to nature as much as
possible. " -M.C. UL
32
URBAN LAND
SUMMER 20 21
TOMACROSSE/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
Summer Issue 2021

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