South Architecture ›› 2025, Vol. 0 ›› Issue (07): 12-21.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1000-0232.2025.07.002

• Research on Design • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Dialectical Analysis of Kengo Kuma's Architectural Philosophy and Practice

  

  • Online:2025-07-31 Published:2025-08-02
  • Contact: KONG Yuhang

隈研吾建筑思想与实践的辩证解析

  

  1. 天津大学建筑学院
  • 通讯作者: 孔宇航
  • 作者简介:1天津大学建筑学院,博士研究生;2天津大学建筑学院,教授,通讯作者,电子邮箱:kongart@126.com
  • 基金资助:
    国家自然科学基金重点资助项目(52038007):基于中华语境“建筑-人-环境”融贯机制的当代营建体系重构研究;国家自然科学基金青年资助项目(52308030):基于非正规性的“空间-行为”匹配关系驱动下社区公共空间形成机制研究。

Abstract: China's modernization has largely neglected the inheritance and promotion of traditional construction methods and craftsmanship, thereby weakening the inherent link between design and construction. Consequently, contemporary spatial design often prioritizes formal expression over constructional logic and material properties. In contrast, Japanese architect Kengo Kuma integrates traditional architectural principles into modern contexts through his construction practice, forging a dialectical unity between spatial materiality and atmosphere. His approach offers an innovative model for adapting Japanese architectural tradition. Based on Kengo Kuma's thoughts and practices, this study analyzes Kuma's reconstruction of Japanese architectural culture, focusing on the dialectical relationship between the "visibility of construction methods"  and the "invisibility of atmosphere." It seeks to uncover the operational logic behind the transformation of traditional principles. The findings provide valuable insights for the contemporary application of Chinese architectural tradition.
  In this study, Kuma's built works were analyzed alongside his theoretical writings and architectural critiques, employing case study analysis, typological induction, and dialectical reasoning. By examining Kuma's ideas of "particlized" texture construction and "disappearing" atmospheric creation, the study focused on his construction practices—at structural, interface and detail levels—to explore the intrinsic relationship between explicit constructional operations and implicit atmospheric expressions. The results showed that Kuma extracted traditional elements rooted in specific eras or regions, condensing them into a unique constructional semantics of "particlization" through explicit expression of construction logic. Simultaneously, he utilized particle aggregation to realize implicit expression of life scenarios, natural qualities and traditional motifs, thereby imbuing spatial construction syntax with a profound understanding of Japanese tradition. Kuma explored construction's implicit meaning beyond explicit space by intertwining semantics and syntax. 
  The interrelationship between construction methods and atmosphere in Kuma's works manifests on three levels: (1) structural construction evokes the atmosphere of daily life by triggering spatial memory; (2) interface construction expresses natural atmosphere through porosity and permeability; and (3) detailed construction conveys traditional atmosphere through thematic logic. This process highlights a two-way feedback mechanism between atmosphere and construction form. Construction often plays a supportive and recessive role behind space and materials, serving as a medium for recreating life scenes, responding to natural attributes, and continuing cultural temperament. Simultaneously, the integration needs for natural elements, such as ocean views and light, further promote innovation in construction methods, leading to special techniques that align with natural aesthetics. Therefore, the explicit and implicit attributes in Kuma's thought and practice are interdependent, reflecting only a temporal distinction in traditional perception. The former evokes immediate perception through embodied visual experience, while the latter stimulates deep understanding of place through delayed response to hidden atmospheres. 
  For Chinese architecture, this dialectical logic of explicit and implicit suggests that the excavation of traditional elements must balance formal reconstruction and the continuation of atmosphere, thereby avoiding the pitfalls of technical imitation or symbolic collage. By analyzing Kuma's thoughts and practices, this study deepens the understanding of Japanese architectural culture's innovation mechanisms. It also provides a systematic reference—from cognitive paradigm to practical application—for the contemporary reconstruction of Chinese traditional architecture, enabling it to maintain cultural identity during globalization. 


Key words: constructive method, architectural atmosphere, explicit, implicit, particlization, translation design

摘要: 以日本建筑师隈研吾作品中的建筑构法为研究对象,分析其思想观念与作品营建上的显性与隐性表达。指出隈研吾在粒子化建筑观引导下,提炼传统构法内蕴生成标准粒子,建构当代建筑肌理,构筑出结构呈现、界面表达与细部提取3类传统构法的显性表达方式,却深刻蕴含有关生活场景、自然属性与传统母题的消隐式氛围营造。通过解析“构法之显”与“氛围之隐”的辩证关系,溯源日本当代建筑的创新性,为中国传统建筑当代转译重构提供从认知范式到实践路径的系统参照。

关键词: 建筑构法, 建筑氛围, 显性, 隐性, 粒子化, 转译设计

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