Kengo Kuma Quotes

“Natural materials always cause unforeseeable problems despite the most careful planning. They break and rot and split. Inconsistencies are both their charm and their drawback, which is precisely why the extra precaution of backing the washi paper with plastic made sense. There was no 'right way' except to admit that different views must coexist. In the end, respecting others' opinions, addressing their criticisms and acknowledging problems is the only way to get things done. If building with natural materials is to be saved, it must be accomplished with humility and hard work, not bombast and confrontation. To this day the washi paper at the Hiroshige Museum remains in good shape.”
― Kengo Kuma, Kengo Kuma: Small Architecture / Natural Architecture

“Architecture forms a vital link between people and their surroundings. It acts as a gentle buffer between the fragility of human existence and the vast world outside. How different people choose to build connections in their environment essentially defines those societies and their relationships to conditions around them.”
― Kengo Kuma, Kengo Kuma: Small Architecture / Natural Architecture

“But can there ever be a 100 per-cent achievement in architecture? I only distrust those who take that level of satisfaction in their work. All building materials harm the environment in some way, whether in production or transportation or assembly.”
― Kengo Kuma, Kengo Kuma: Small Architecture / Natural Architecture

“Our animal selves only really react to actual materials. Our bodies don't twitch at a drawing, so it's important to start a dialogue with mock-ups as soon as possible. Only after physically engaging with materials should we begin drawing floorpans, elevations and site diagrams. But a floorpan for a wooden building is bound to be different to one in stone. How could it not? Doing things the way around- floorpan first, then a cosmetic touch-up- hardly gives materials due credit.”
― Kengo Kuma, Kengo Kuma: Small Architecture / Natural Architecture

“Cutting stone to the optimum basic size for building secure, aesthetically pleasing combinations was tantamount to establishing the smallest prime integer without which there would be no arithmetic or geometry. Working by trial and error with units, Greek mathematical thinking arrived at the idea of beautiful proportions, which in turn formed the basis of all the arts, not just architecture. Masonry as a method led to principles that eventually came to govern the whole of western art.”
― Kengo Kuma, Kengo Kuma: Small Architecture / Natural Architecture

“Nature is synonymous with change and potential. Whatever seems fixed and immutable within our myopic human time-span, is still in flux over glacial aeons because it's free particles.”
― Kengo Kuma, Kengo Kuma: Small Architecture / Natural Architecture