{"title":"Kengo Kuma","description":"\u003cp\u003eExplore the architectural philosophy of Kengo Kuma. Discover books showcasing his innovative designs, blending nature and tradition. Perfect for architecture enthusiasts and design lovers alike. Browse now!\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"kengo-kuma-my-life-as-an-architect-in-tokyo-book-kengo-kuma-9780500343616","title":"Kengo Kuma: My Life as an Architect in Tokyo","description":"It was around Kengo Kuma’s tenth birthday that he came into contact with Kenzō Tange’s fishlike Yoyogi National Gymnasium, completed for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and determined that he would become an architect. In the intervening five or so decades, he has become one of the world’s most fascinating and influential architects.     Kuma is known throughout the world for his formally daring and materially expressive buildings, recognized for his inventive use of traditional materials, and his use of innovative materials in vernacular forms. He is perhaps less known for his work inside his native Japan, where he works actively towards the preservation of ancient building techniques and craft. A keen curiosity for all forms of building and a wealth of knowledge about the world acquired through expansive travels make Kuma a unique commentator on Tokyo’s dynamic architecture.    Through twenty-five stories, this intimate little publication paints a picture of how a building inspired a boy to become an architect, how Japan’s national heritage helped form his thinking, and how his professional experience has made him one of the most successful architects of his generation. This book contains something for everyone: design acumen, insights into Japanese culture, a tour of Tokyo and the heartfelt commitment to producing buildings that have meaning and longevity.  With 41 illustrations, 21 in colour","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49735727055121,"sku":"NGR9780500343616","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50156943081745,"sku":"GOR011480245","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0500343616.jpg?v=1751358900"},{"product_id":"kuma-book-kengo-kuma-9783836575126","title":"Kuma","description":"From his Great (Bamboo) Wall house to the Japan National Stadium for the 2020 Summer Olympics, Japanese architect Kengo Kuma pioneered sustainability in architecture, turning local craftsmanship into a new, tactile approach. Discover his oeuvre in this extensive monograph.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49739903893777,"sku":"NGR9783836575126","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/3836575124.jpg?v=1750730767"},{"product_id":"point-line-plane-book-kengo-kuma-9780500027967","title":"Point Line Plane","description":"A collection of writings that sets out Kengo Kuma’s theories of architecture, but also a left field critique of where the architecture world finds itself today.    Kengo Kuma is one of Japan’s leading architects and Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo. Widely known as a prolific writer and philosopher, he proposes architecture that opens up new relationships between nature, technology and human beings.     Through a series of thought-provoking essays, he unveils his vision of architecture as a dynamic interplay between tradition and innovation, critiquing the megastructures and capitalist influences of the 20th century and challenging readers to reconsider the role of architecture in shaping our world.     Drawing from diverse disciplines including art history, philosophy and literature, Kuma crafts a narrative that transcends the boundaries of traditional architectural theory, presenting a compelling manifesto for a new era of design – one that dismantles hard concrete volumes into points, lines and planes that celebrate the simplicity and sustainability of human connection.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":50283741937937,"sku":"NGR9780500027967","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51002905461009,"sku":"NIN9780500027967","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51123807944977,"sku":"GOR014181105","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51325782294801,"sku":"CIN050002796XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52693028634897,"sku":"GOR014579412","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53549129531665,"sku":"CIN050002796XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/050002796X.jpg?v=1771495354"},{"product_id":"architecture-of-defeat-book-kengo-kuma-9781138390843","title":"Architecture of Defeat","description":"Kengo Kuma, one of Japan’s leading architects, has been combining professional practice and academia for most of his career. In addition to creating many internationally recognized buildings all over the world, he has written extensively about the history and theory of architecture. Like his built work, his writings also reflect his profound personal philosophy.   Architecture of Defeat is no exception. Now available in English for the first time, the book explores events and architectural trends in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in both Japan and beyond. It brings together a collection of essays which Kuma wrote after disasters such as the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York City on 9\/11 and the earthquake and tsunami that obliterated much of the built landscape on Japan’s northern shore in a matter of minutes in 2011. Asking if we have been building in a manner that is too self-confident or arrogant, he examines architecture’s intrinsic—and often problematic—relationship to the powerful forces of contemporary politics, economics, consumerism, and technology, as well as its vital ties to society.   Despite the title, Architecture of Defeat is an optimistic and hopeful book. Rather than anticipating the demise of architecture, Kuma envisages a different mode of conceiving architecture: guided and shaped by more modesty and with greater respect for the forces of our natural world.   Beautifully designed and illustrated, this is a fascinating insight into the thinking of one of the world’s most influential architects.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":50697404907793,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":50697408348433,"sku":"NGR9781138390843","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1138390844.jpg?v=1751400579"},{"product_id":"patterns-and-layering-book-kengo-kuma-9783899554618","title":"Patterns and Layering","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":50739750961425,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50739751682321,"sku":"GOR007598463","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/3899554612.jpg?v=1751096135"},{"product_id":"marc-mimram-structure-light-book-kengo-kuma-9783775744034","title":"Marc Mimram: Structure \/ Light","description":"Marc Mimram (*1955, Paris), award-winning architect and engineer, presents his work of architecture and structure through the lens of Erieta Attali (1966, Tel Aviv-Jaffa), world-renowned architectural photographer, who explores the relationship between human-made structures and the landscape. Architecture is often represented as a product or disembodied object. This view transforms inhabitants into spectators of an architecture that is dematerialized, delocalized, dehumanized and reduced into an image of itself. The collaboration between Mimram and Attali aims for an all-encompassing approach, placing the architecture within its time-frame and physical environment, rather than presenting mere glossy images of the projects. This triple volume builds a new visual vocabulary through which to interpret the structures. The social functionality of public architecture is addressed, largely absent in architectural photography and the communication of built space until now. The first volume focuses on a two-year photographic documentation of the construction of the Airtime building in Paris. The second volume presents an overview of Mimram’s works around the world: bridges, train stations and academic institutions from France to Morocco and China. The third volume focuses on the newly redesigned home to the French Open, Roland-Garros. With texts by Marc Mimram, Erieta Attali, Ariel Genadt, Jean Attali, Paul Chemetov, Zvi Hecker and Sir Peter Cook.   \"Architecture is an art of transformation, the dialog between the photography and the projects can participate to the understanding of its coherency, its generosity.” – Marc Mimram","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51065094078737,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51065095946513,"sku":"NIN9783775744034","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/3775744037.jpg?v=1750773883"},{"product_id":"kyokai-a-japanese-technique-for-articulating-space-book-kengo-kuma-9784473036452","title":"Kyokai - a Japanese Technique for Articulating Space","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51294220976401,"sku":"NIN9784473036452","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/4473036456.jpg?v=1751064875"},{"product_id":"anti-object-book-kengo-kuma-9781902902524","title":"Anti-object","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51541305000209,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51541305131281,"sku":"GOR006001494","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1902902521.jpg?v=1750900132"},{"product_id":"kkaa-kengo-kuma-and-associates-book-kengo-kuma-9780764366802","title":"KKAA Kengo Kuma and Associates","description":"This new book on Kengo Kuma, one of the world's most respected architects, focuses on architectural detailing throughout 38 global projects to discover his creative essence.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Kuma's gentle but commanding commentary, accompanied by hundreds of photos and diagrams, focuses on how architectural details reveal his identity across a journey of discovery. This evolution is told in six chapters--Fabric, Mineral, Green, Thatching, Bamboo, and Wood--and covers 38 projects from around the world. Each project has been carefully curated to tell specific developments in this coming-of-age story.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e As he explains the details of each project, readers will see more of Kengo Kuma's creative essence throughout his process. Concepts covered here offer clarity on his perspective as an architect and include\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e * creating softness with hard materials,\u003cbr\u003e * the relationship between openness and anti-volume,\u003cbr\u003e * and how to use geometry to mitigate the natural contours of a building site.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e What unfolds is an architectural vision of craft developed through the exploration of historical processes and expectations, craftsmanship, and artistic skill.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51597577912593,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51597578109201,"sku":"NGR9780764366802","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":53050790510865,"sku":"NIN9780764366802","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0764366807.jpg?v=1769686608"},{"product_id":"kengo-kuma-book-kengo-kuma-9783754404621","title":"Kengo Kuma","description":"After Tadao Ando, Toyo Ito, and Fumihiko Maki, Kengo Kuma has breathed renewed vigor and lightness into Japanese architecture.  Departing from the modernist skyscraper of the 20th century, Kuma  traveled through his native Japan to develop a truly sustainable  approach, translating local craftsmanship and resources into  site-specific, timely buildings. Informed by tradition, and with both  feet firmly planted in the present, this “materialist” heralds a new tactile architecture marked by its engaging surfaces, innovative structures, and fluid forms, reconnecting people with the physicality of a house. Kuma’s objective, above all else, is “just to respect the culture and environment of the place where I am working.”    To this end, Kuma shaped the China Academy of Art’s Folk Art Museum partially from discarded roof tiles; created a Chapel out of birch and moss in Nagano; and worked with local craftsmen to sculpt the V\u0026amp;A Dundee  into a twisted, layered reflection of the Scottish coastal cliffs. With  an extraordinary sensitivity for space, light, and texture, Kuma  reveals unexpected qualities in materials, finding the weightlessness of  stone in Chokkura Plaza and the softness of aluminum in the thatched roof of the Yangcheng Lake Tourist Transportation Center.    More recently, the architect brought his philosophy to the Japan National Stadium  built for the Olympic Games, originally planned for 2020. Kuma has said  the stadium could be “the catalyst that will transform Tokyo back from a  concrete city. I want it to set an example that will help alter the  direction of Japanese architectural design.”    In this monograph with some 500 illustrations spanning photographs, sketches, and plans, Kuma guides us through his entire career to date, detailing milestone projects as well as ongoing works.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":53576823374097,"sku":"NGR9783754404621","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9783754404621.jpg?v=1779281391"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-kengo-kuma.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}