Kuma Kengo: Five Purr-fect Points for a New Public Space

The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (MOMAT) is pleased to present a major solo exhibition of the work of Kuma Kengo (b. 1954), one of Japan’s leading contemporary architects.

Kuma’s buildings, designed to blend in harmoniously with the local environment and culture wherever they are located, naturally draw large numbers of visitors who spend significant amounts of time there. Among them is the design museum V&A Dundee, which opened in 2018 in Scotland and was included on Time magazine’s list of the “world’s greatest places to visit in 2019.”

This exhibition features designs selected from among the Kuma projects, with a focus on those of a highly public nature, and each is introduced via a description of the work by Kuma himself. Here, the point of focusing on the public sector is to showcase not only large-scale public structures such as newly built government offices, but also small-scale projects such as renovated restaurants. The designs are categorized according to five principles that Kuma has conceived—“hole,” “particles,” “oblique,” “softness,” and “time”—and presented in the form of models, photographs, and mockups.
In addition, video works have been commissioned from cutting-edge contemporary artists such as Takimoto Mikiya, Fujii Hikaru, and the McGloughlin Brothers, and visitors will be immersed in a space that highlights not only formal aspects of Kuma’s architecture, but also how it is utilized and how it relates to the surrounding community.

Also on view will be the results of “A Plan for Tokyo, 2020: Five Purr-fect Points for Feline Architecture,” a research project that reinterprets the urban environment from the perspective of cats. In the belief that our current era calls for exploring new ideas for the city by looking at it not from above, as in Japan’s postwar period of rapid economic growth (c.1954–1972), but from below, Kuma arrived at the idea of adopting cats’ vantage point. For this exhibition, he collaborated with the design engineering firm Takram and conducted fieldwork and GPS tracking in Tokyo’s Kagurazaka neighborhood, and presents the study’s outcomes using 3D computer graphics and projection mapping.

The organizers’ hope is that this exhibition, which will take place during a time of numerous challenges due to the COVID-19 crisis, will offer valuable opportunities to think in new ways about public space and the future of the city.

Organized by The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan, and Japan Arts Council

With the sponsorship of Taisei Corporation, Taiyo Construction Co., ltd., Haseko Corporation, Daiko Electric Co., ltd., Dai Nippon Printing Co., ltd., Maeda Corporation, Itoki Corporation, Obayashi Corporation, Kajima Corporation, Kokuyo Co., ltd., Komatsumatere Co., ltd., Satohide Corporation, Shimizu Corporation, Jr East Design Corporation, Sumitomo Forestry Co., ltd., Taiyo Kogyo Corporation, Daiwa House Industry Co., ltd., Daiwa Lease Co., ltd., Takenaka Corporation, Tanseisha Co., ltd., Tsuchiya Corporation, Tokyu Construction Co., ltd., Toto ltd., Toda Corporation, Nomura Co., ltd., Fujisash Co.,ltd., Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co., ltd., Meiken Lamwood Corp., Kishinoue Construction.

With the cooperation of Nvidia Corporation, Komatsu Matere Co.,ltd., Snow Peak Inc., Toyama City, Nagaoka City, HP Japan Inc., Hamada Shoyu Co., ltd., V&A Dundee, Maniwa City, Minamisanriku Town, ModuleX Inc., Monofactory Co., ltd, Yamagiwa Corp., Yusuhara Town.

With the support of The Obayashi Foundation.

Curated by Kenjiro Hosaka, director of the Shiga Museum of Art (former curator of MOMAT).

Press inquiries: pr@momat.go.jp / kuma2021@ypcpr.com