Kengo Kuma

Japanese architect Kengo Kuma was born in Kanagawa in 1954. In 1979 he completed his degree in architecture from the Graduate School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo. After a number of jobs and scholarships in Japan and abroad Mr. Kuma established his own company Spatial Design Studio in 1987; in 1990 he moved on to establish Kengo Kuma & Associates. From 1998 to 1999 Mr. Kuma was appointed Professor at the Faculty of Environmental Information at Keio University. And in 2001 he took up the position as Professor at the Faculty of Science and Technology at Keio University.

Question. What is your general impression of the projects presented in this second edition of the International VELUX Award?
Answer. Of course I am very surprised to see that more than 500 students applied. The main reason is that the theme of light is a very contemporary theme for young architects, whereas the shape and the form were the main themes of architecture in the middle of the 20th century. But now the main theme has moved from the form to the phenomena, and light can be the main theme of today.

Q. What process has the jury followed to review all the projects?
A. There were too many projects for just two days. At first we did a quick tour of all the submissions. Then, based on a number of common criteria, we selected very roughly 20 or 30.

Q. What have been the main themes reflected?
A. The main theme this year is not technology, not sustainable design – though of course sustainable design is a very important theme –, but the main theme of this edition has to do with sitespecific design.

Q. But light does not belong to a specific place...
A. No, but light can pick up the real character of the site, it is the most valuable tool to do this.

Q. What kind of relationship have the students chosen to establish between natural and artificial light? Do they participate equally, or does one prevail over the other?
A. Basically natural light is stronger than artificial light in a philosophical sense. The strongest idea is to focus mainly on natural light, but some projects combine them, and others see artificial light as a part of natural light.

Q. New technologies have led to an increasing dependence on artificial light. Did you see this dependence reflected in the projects, or is the dependence on artificial light decreasing?
A. The general tendency, year by year, is that it is becoming more difficult to get natural light. Even so, people are starting to appreciate the value of natural light.

Q. In recent architecture one notices a particular interest in exploiting the tactile qualities of materials with the help of light. Did light have this role in some projects?
A. Yes, some submissions pointed out that materials and natural light should be combined to create the phenomenon of the space, that point is very important for architects. Formalist architects forget that material and natural light are one thing, they divide it. But lately there are two different roles that are very close, and I am always thinking about the possibility of how to combine these two things, and thus create a strong space.

Q. In your opinion, what senses are involved in light perception?
A. It is not only about seeing. We can reach the essence of the material through natural light. And if we want to understand the essence of the material we should use light in the appropriate way, without that we can only touch the surface.

Q. Going on to the winners and honourable mentions, has there been an agreement among the jurors on what the importance of light is in the different projects?
A. In the evaluation process, there were many different views, but in the end we were on the same ground, that is, we agreed that light can pick up the strength of the space, and that is the only way to lead to the philosophy of the space.