Kengo Kuma: Architecture for Our Time

Born in 1954, Kuma recounts how his childhood home — small, made of wood, built in the 1940s — had an influence on the future, as did experiencing the gymnasium Kenzo Tange designed for the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. More than fifty years later, Kuma's most important commission is the Japan National Stadium, completed last year for the delayed Summer Olympics that will open in Tokyo on July 23. The stadium, like many other recent projects designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates, is made from wood. Kuma devotes part of the interview to explaining the importance of choosing materials that are "in harmony with nature," as evidenced in the stadium as well as in the designs for the Hans Christian Andersen Museum in Denmark and a number of literature-related projects recently completed and underway in Japan.