Kengo Kuma and Associates: The Latest Architecture and News

As part of the Architectural Competition For European Film Center CAMERIMAGE Building, Kengo Kuma & Associates and Ingarden & Ewý Architects proposed a new iconic landmark that celebrates film and architecture as "universal forms of expression", in the center of Toruń, Poland. The design, which ranked in second place, illustrates metaphorical falling curtains through the dynamic movement of the structure's organic forms, and offers artists, visitors, and locals a unique space infused with musical and visual experiences.

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The Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology in Cracow, Poland, is holding an exhibition titled “Kengo Kuma, Experimenting with Materials”, which features a selection of Kengo Kuma & Associates projects, mock-ups, and installations shipped from the firm's office in Tokyo, along with a large "cloud-like" wooden pavilion designed by the architecture office and the Faculty of Architecture and Fine Arts of the Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Krakow University. The exhibition is open to visitors until May 2022.

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Muz Yer, a permanent public exhibition in Rennes, France, has invited 8 internationally-renowned architects to design birdhouses that highlight the relationship between contemporary architecture and nature. Each birdhouse serves as a response to one or more of the 13 bird species designated by the Birds Protection Committee (Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux - LPO), and raises awareness of the architectural heritage of Rennes and its urban ecology. The list of exhibitors includes Julien De Smedt Architects, ADEPT, a/LTA, Duncan Lewis, Marion Normand, Kengo Kuma & Associates, Tham & Videgard, and Dominique Perrault Architects & Gaëlle Lauriot-Prévost Design.

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The city of Budapest, though Budapest Development Agency (BFK), launched an international design competition this autumn for the comprehensive renewal of the Budapest Nyugati Railway Station and its surroundings. The initiative seeks to expand the train station's capacity in order to reach Budapest's railway transport goals of doubling the number of trains on the suburban and metropolitan network. After an initial phase that attracted 36 participants, 12 practices were shortlisted for the second round of the competition, among which are Benthem Crouwel Architects, Grimshaw Architects, Zaha Hadid Architects, Foster + Partners, Kengo Kuma & Associates and Sweco.

The jury of the Galiasgar Kamal Tatar State Academy Theatre's open competition has announced its list of 8 international finalists. The competition called for the development of an architectural concept that takes into account sustainable development and Kazan's history, creating a theatre that blends harmoniously into its surroundings while becoming a new unique landmark.

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Kengo Kuma was asked to preserve the western portal of the Cathédrale Saint-Maurice in Angers, France, to protect 12th and 17th century polychromatic sculptures displayed within the historic structure. The proposed design creates a "harmonious dialogue" with a subtle contemporary arched intervention that preserves its medieval architectural heritage and pays tribute to the original builders' regulatory framework and unified proportions. Construction of the new arched portals have begun and are expected to be complete in 2024.

During the first week of September, Milan Design Week opened its doors to more than 60,000 architects, designers, artists, and craftsmen from all around the world to explore new design innovations and exchange ideas about the interior design, furniture, and lighting. In parallel to the event hosted at the Rho Fiera, interventions by world-renowned architects were installed across the city as part of the Fuorisalone.

The Fuorisalone program took place under the patronage of the Municipality of Milan, and started last April with a digital edition under the theme of "Forms of Living", taking a view on the questions that inspire and influence the future of the furniture and design. Read on to discover the top 5 outdoor installations along with their description.

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For the 2021 Milan Design Week, Kengo Kuma Associates designed a bamboo installation that merges form, materiality and music, creating a multisensory experience. Created in collaboration with smart device manufacturer OPPO, Bamboo (竹) Ring :|| Weaving a Symphony of Lightness and Form answers the "Creative Connections" theme by merging architecture and music, as well as craftsmanship and technology.

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Kengo Kuma's EDA office building revitalizes an abandoned site in Paris, creating a new urban landmark and signalling the renewal of the Issy-les-Moulineaux neighbourhood. Through its horizontality, the large scale project sitting at the confluence of three traffic rouets mediates the urban discontinuities of the surroundings while reflecting the context's dynamic of movement and flows. Defined as "a dense network of tree-lined terraces and hanging gardens", the design features a wood structure and a double-skin façade whose sunscreen elements create the architectural image.

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Kengo Kuma & Associates has designed the Edogawa City Eiko Kadono Children's Literature Museum (tentative name), a new cultural venue where the young can experience the imaginary world envisioned by acclaimed Japanese children book author Eiko Kadono. Located on the banks of the Edogawa river and within the natural setting of Nagisa Park in Tokyo, the project features an array of volumes following the hill's slope and an overhanging roof that expands towards the landscape.

"We all have to change our way of thinking now. I want to change my architecture to be even more kind to nature," says Kengo Kuma in this Louisiana Channel interview, where he shares his thoughts on the pandemic's impact on architecture and the environment. The architect discusses the collective responsibility towards nature and the importance of designing buildings and cities that allow for and encourage outdoor activities.

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Talking to the Louisiana Channel, iconic Japanese architect Kengo Kuma discusses the many influences that have shaped his work - and also delves into the impact that the ongoing pandemic has had on the architectural field. In the interview, Kuma describes how influential his early upbringing was to his architectural career. Growing up in a small wooden house in the 1950s - originally built in 1942, would go on to guide his architectural perchance of using wood in his projects. Kuma also mentions Japanese architect Kenzu Tange as a key inspiration and cites Tange's Yoyogi National Gymnasium - constructed for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo - as a project that would influence him towards an architectural career.

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Kengo Kuma and Associates, together with Bekim Ramku and OUD+ Architects, has recently been awarded first prize in the competition to redesign the Gërmia building into a concert hall and will lead the conversion of Prishtina’s architectural icon into a cultural landmark for Kosovo. The proposal preserves the existing structures and articulates the program within and around the modernist buildings. The design envisions a canopy weaving together the different volumes and creating a new layer of public space.

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Japan plans on transforming the area around Shinagawa station into a global hub, further connecting Tokyo to the international scene of business and innovation. The Connecticut-based architecture firm Pickard Chilton recently completed the masterplan and concept design for the area's redevelopment into the Global Gateway Shinagawa, an innovative urban environment.

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Construction has begun on “Welcome, feeling at work”, a biophilic office of the future in Milan, Italy. Designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates and commissioned by Europa Risorse, this venture seeks to create a workspace centered on employee health and wellbeing, integrated within its local environment. Imagined to be one of the most sustainable office development to date, the project is scheduled for 2024.

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