Kengo Kuma might be the most self-effacing architect around. His trademarks are not large monumental forms or breathtaking sculptural shapes, but finely wrought details such as elegant stone cladding on a high-rise tower, an unlikely pitched roof or a superbly framed view on a garden.
More often than not, Kuma¡¯s buildings defer to something external ¡ª the client¡¯s predilections, their site, the location¡¯s history, the architecture that was there before them, and even the perceived expectations of the public. Kuma refers to his own work as the ¡°architecture of defeat¡± ¡ª saying that it ¡°loses¡± to everything.
It is no coincidence that this architect who is willing to take on board everyone¡¯s opinions was selected for one of the most potentially controversial building projects in Japan in the last few years: the rebuilding of kabuki theater¡¯s traditional home, the Kabuki-za, in Tokyo¡¯s Ginza district.
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