Kengo Kuma—The Flow of Lines through the Lens of Erieta Attali

With the exhibition Kengo Kuma—The Flow of Lines through the Lens of Erieta Attali, the Museum of Architectural Drawing explores the dialogue between architecture, drawing and photography. The presentation centres on 86 hand-drawn sketches by the internationally renowned Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, which are given a new visual dimension through 18 selected art photographs by Erieta Attali.

Kengo Kuma is one of the most significant voices in contemporary architecture. His internationally acclaimed projects, including the National Stadium in Tokyo, the V&A Dundee Design Museum, the Tiffany store in Tokyo’s Ginza district and many others, are characterised by a particular sensitivity to materials, light and landscape, as well as to the history of their sites.

Less widely known, however, are Kuma’s hand-drawn sketches. The works on display in this exhibition offer a rare insight into the architect’s creative process. These drawings are not merely sketches or preliminary studies, but autonomous works in which ideas, movement and spatial concepts are distilled. However diverse the projects may be, the technique of the sketches remains deliberately simple. With the exception of a few early works, most are monochrome and executed in either pencil or bold charcoal.

This world of drawing finds its complement and resonance in the photographs of Erieta Attali. Over the course of her long-standing collaboration with the architect, she has produced artistic interpretations of numerous Kuma projects. Her photographs capture light, atmosphere, transitions and the subtle relationship between buildings and their surroundings. Attali’s perspective draws attention to light, shadow and texture, revealing how Kuma’s lines unfold in real space.

The exhibition is conceived as a dialogue between two artistic positions. In both Kuma’s drawings and Attali’s photographs, architecture is understood as something in motion and in a state of constant flux. Visitors are invited not merely to observe architecture, but to experience it as a sensory, fluid process—as a flow of lines.

The exhibition was curated by Nadejda Bartels, Director of the Museum for Architectural Drawing. A catalogue accompanies the show.

Tchoban Foundation. Museum for Architectural Drawing
The Tchoban Foundation’s Museum for Architectural Drawing was established in 2013 on the site of the former Pfefferberg brewery. In 2009, architect and collector Sergei Tchoban set up the foundation with the aim of promoting the art of architectural drawing. The museum presents three exhibitions annually, featuring works from its own holdings as well as loans from the collections of renowned institutions such as Sir John Soane’s Museum in London, the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, the Albertina in Vienna, the German Architecture Museum in Frankfurt am Main and the Berlin Art Library, alongside private collections.