Lecture by Kengo Kuma at Espai Alfaro with MArch

We had the privilege of welcoming the renowned Japanese architect Kengo Kuma to Espai Alfaro, in a session that allowed students from the MArch Valencia school to experience first-hand the thinking and trajectory of one of the leading international figures in contemporary architecture.

During the lecture, Kuma shared some of the most representative projects of his career, offering a direct insight into the processes, decisions, and values that have guided his work over the years. Among the presented projects, he highlighted large-scale works such as the Tokyo Olympic Stadium, as well as already iconic buildings such as Sunny Hills Minami Aoyama and the Nakagawa-machi Bato Hiroshige Museum of Art. He also addressed projects closely linked to context and landscape, such as the Yusuhara Wooden Bridge Museum and the Yusuhara Community Library, in which architecture is understood as a natural extension of the place in which it is inserted.

Beyond these widely recognised works, Kuma placed special emphasis on small-scale projects and on research into construction and assembly systems. In this regard, he presented the Chidori system, developed for Milan, as an example of how material and constructive experimentation can open new spatial possibilities, even from seemingly simple solutions.

Throughout the lecture, the architect emphasised the importance of materiality in his architecture, as well as the need to understand each project through its integration with its surroundings. Lightness, both physical and conceptual, was another key aspect addressed, understood as a structural quality and also as an attitude towards design and the relationship with the cultural and natural context.