Kengo Kuma, the prominent architect and writer known for blending modernist approaches with traditional Japanese values, reveals his love for the color white, his desire to learn the piano, and his fondness for designing sacred spaces in this iteration of Archinect's recurring series The Proust Questionnaire.
Who is your favorite living architect?
Fumihiko Maki
Who is your favorite dead architect?
Frank Lloyd-Wright
How would you describe the personality of your practice?
Generosity and diversity
What is your practice's main weakness?
But they are too student-like, sometimes
What is the trait that you appreciate most in a building?
Courage
What is the trait that you deplore most in a building?
Trace of effort expecting high evaluation by architecture industry
What is the trait that you most appreciate in an architect?
Whether it is user-oriented
What is that trait that your most deplore in an architect?
Not user-oriented
What is your favorite type of project to work on?
A church or a temple
What does architectural happiness mean?
A space for the public loved by everyone
What does architectural misery mean?
Isolated beauty
Where would you most like to build (where you haven't already)?
Where I've never been
What is your favorite color?
Subtle white
What is your favorite flower?
White flowers
What is your favorite bird?
Sparrow
Who is your favorite poet?
Matsuo Basho (haiku master)
Who is your favorite artist?
Ando Hiroshige
When do you lie?
What talent would you most like to have?
Playing piano
What architectural strategies do you most overuse?
Atomizing (use of particles)
How would you like to die?
While traveling
3 Comments
I'm still waiting...
Q: "When do you lie"
Kuma: "I lied when I said my favorite color is subtle white. Its actually blue."
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