The Embassy of Japan in Greece, in collaboration with LAMDA Development, welcomed award-winning Japanese architect Kuma Kengo to The Ellinikon Experience Center on Monday, September 16.
The lecture took place within the scope of the actions for “2024: Japan – Greece Year of Culture and Tourism” and the “Talks” section of the institution “The Ellinikon Moments”.
The event was graced by the presence of the Ambassador of Japan to Greece, Mr. Koichi Ito, who in his address stated: “Architecture is a field of human creativity in which both Greeks and Japanese have made significant contributions to design and philosophy at a global level. For this reason, tonight’s event, the lecture by Mr. Kengo Kuma, is among the main events in a series of events being held to mark this year, which marks the 125th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and has been declared the Year of Culture and Tourism between Japan and Greece.”
Earlier in the day, as part of the collaboration, the Ellinikon Experience Center hosted a roundtable discussion with architecture students from Japan and Greece. The participants presented the results of the educational workshops “Material Cultures: The Way of Wood and the Way of Stone” organized by the Embassy of Japan, with the support of Alberta Shipmanagement and Kuma Lab. These workshops, held successively in Japan and Greece, were coordinated by Mr. KUMA Kengo, Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo and founder of the architectural firm Kengo Kuma & Associates, and Dr. Vassilis Ganiatsas, Professor at the School of Architectural Engineering, National Technical University of Athens. Organizational guidance was provided by Mr. Hirano Toshiki, Assistant Professor of Design, Kuma Lab, University of Tokyo and Mr. Aris Kafantaris, Chief Project Manager, Kengo Kuma & Associates Tokyo.
On behalf of LAMDA Development, Marketing and Communications Director Sissy Iliopoulou, in her opening speech, thanked the Japanese Embassy in Greece and the Workshop collaborators from both countries for their cooperation in the preparation and implementation of the highly successful events hosted at The Ellinikon Experience Centre. She also mentioned the company’s special collaboration with KUMA Kengo and its architectural firm Kengo Kuma & Associates, responsible for the design of LAMDA Development’s Riviera Galleria, the first high-end shopping destination located in Agios Kosmos Marina.
In his inspiring speech on “Reconnecting Architecture with Nature”, KUMA Kengo emphasized that cultural exchange has always been a driving force for the creation of new ideas and, of course, new architecture. Through a series of projects by his office in Japan, Europe and America, he demonstrated his constant effort to utilize local materials and construction techniques in each place. In this way, an idiosyncratic form of cultural exchange takes place that finds expression through materiality, producing spaces that are both original and familiar. In closing, he said that through his intense involvement with Greece in recent years, he has discovered many similarities between Greece and Japan, especially in the two peoples’ love for nature and an architecture that is born from the landscape.
The speech, which was broadcast live on The Ellinikon YouTube channel, was attended by the Secretary General for Tourism Policy and Development of the Ministry of Tourism, Mr. Koutsoukou, officials from the Ministry of Culture, local government, as well as educational and cultural representatives from institutions and schools, Architectural Institutes and Associations, Architectural Offices and construction companies, media representatives and many others.