Alessandro Digaetano Photographer

Kengo Kuma, one of the most heralded of a new generation of Japanese architects, born in Japan in 1954, graduated from the school of engineering at the university of Tokyo in 1979, and continued his studies in New York in 1985-86, at Columbia university. The following year, he founded the ?spatial design? studio and, in 1990, ?kengo kuma & associates?; between 1998 and 1999, he was a professor at the faculty of environmental information at Keio university. Kuma's work is characterized by a delicate simplicity and minimalism, incorporating a wide range of ephemeral transparencies. Their ineffable vibrancy is achieved largely by the extensive and skillful use of screens: metal, wooden, bamboo, and even stone louvers or slates, as well as paper, plastic, and glass surfaces or membranes. His use of new, sophisticated, and efficient technologies, his sensitivity to site, and his attention to the ecological and prevailing social context of his work are all explored in Kengo Kuma. *** Local Caption *** Kuma's library.