Designwire Daily: from the editors of Interior Design magazine

Kengo Kuma Selected for First Project in US

by Ian Volner | Tuesday, February 8, 2011 | 2 Comments

Architect Kengo Kuma—long admired in his native Japan for super-refined simplicity and a quiet, contemplative naturalism—will be coming stateside at last, having been selected to head up the expansion and renovation of the Portland Japanese Garden in Portland, Oregon.

The five-and-a-half-acre garden first opened to the public in 1967; by its 40th anniversary year, increasing crowds and expanded public programming led the Garden’s leadership to launch a four-year process to map out a new master plan for the park.  Last month, that process led them to Kuma, who will direct the construction of new garden spaces, a cultural and education center, a gift store, and a tea house.

Kuma seems a natural choice for the project. The architect, 57, has been engaged for much of his career in an ongoing effort to “recover the tradition of Japanese buildings,” as he puts it. The Portland Japanese Garden is among the most authentic outside Japan, and the project gives Kuma the opportunity to build upon and commune with the work of a master of traditional Japanese garden design, Takuma Tono, who laid out the Garden’s original scheme.

Local leadership praised the unanimous decision of the Garden board to bring the acclaimed international architect to North America for the first time. “The Japanese Garden is truly a jewel in Portland’s crown,” says Portland mayor Sam Adams. “The city enthusiastically welcomes Kengo Kuma to Portland and eagerly anticipates the new developments at the Garden.”

Images courtesy of the Portland Japanese Garden.