Architect Kengo Kuma in Shanghai

Japanese architect Kengo Kuma spoke yesterday at the 100% Design Shanghai conference and exhibition at the Shanghai Exhibition Center.

His talk was entitled, "Anti-Object", and the architect wrote: "I would like to subvert the system invented in the 20th century. This is the objective of my architectural designs. A house is not just for sale; it is for people to live in. If your intention is not to stay in, and grow old with, the house, then you cannot really say that you live there. This applies to all architectural buildings. A building has a close relationship with the earth and its ownership should not be casually transferred. It is tightly connected to the philosophy and lifestyle of the people who live in it. This is the basis of architecture – the concept of being one with the earth.
I want architectural design to go back to the basics. I want it to rediscover the link between buildings and the earth. My aim is to subvert the dissociative approach of the European architecture inherited from the Greco-Roman period. By effecting these subversions, I want to let people know that we do have a choice. "

He first presented several projects of his early career that have been widely publicized.

The crowd spilled to the aisles.

A famous project by Kengo Kuma.

He discussed materials and sustainability in his talk.

The Lotus home, with stone panels hanging in a screen on the facade.

The bamboo house.

A house in Beijing in the vicinity of the Great Wall.

My favorite design of his, a space within the Beijing house.

A museum.

He presented many of his projects in Europe.

A design for a theatre in Granada, Spain.

The forms are inspired by the pomegranate fruit, called granada in Spanish.

A museum in the UK.

His apartment building in Shanghai, with plants growing down a mirrored facade.

A Beijing complex of towers.

A museum in China.

Furniture design.

The conference took place in the cavernous Shanghai Exhibit Center.