Onomatopoeia is the act of creating or using words that include sounds similar to the noises to which they refer. Building on this concept, Yokohama, Japan-based architect Kengo Kuma, born in 1954, gives shape to a physical sensation that expresses his idea of sustainable architecture, in which materials are salvaged and people and things are reunited. Referring to the materials most commonly used in his country’s tradition-wood, paper and metal-the architect decides to reuse them in a more contemporary way.

In his vision, surfaces not only engage sight, but also touch and smell. Through the display of more than 22 maquettes of some of his most famous buildings, visitors are encouraged to discover the sounds of different materials.

The way Kengo Kuma approaches materials is a key point of his originality. For him, the whole world is a material and, therefore, he thoroughly studies the locations that are to host his buildings so that they are not only in dialogue with the environment but also rooted in space and time. As he says: «Through the material we can learn about the place and get closer to its specificity. By becoming friends with materials, I was able to learn the most important things.»

Kuma’s buildings often have an unexpected lightness, or a kind of movement that he attributes to his own musical concept. Avoiding concrete as much as possible–a very popular material after the World War II due to its practicality and affordability–, his buildings seem to sit lightly on the ground. They can, on occasion, seem evanescent or perhaps ambiguous, too, while the architect takes from the remote past the know-how to build a better future.

On the occasion of his Venetian exhibition, Kuma designed a temporary structure conceived specifically for the interior garden of ACP – Palazzo Franchetti. It is more than 5 meters high and made of aluminum, and it is usable by visitors.

«Every time I go to Venice and feel close to the water as a “material”, I think about the dialogue between man and material. In this exhibition […] I would like to show how I create a dialogue with materials. In this dialogue, I don’t often use a language influenced by logic. And when I use it, it is impossible to make people understand me. That is why I always use Onomatopoeia. The material and the body are talking to each other, and they resonate when using this primal language.» Kengo Kuma

KENGO KUMA. ONOMATOPOEIA ARCHITECTURE
From May 14 to November 26, 2023
ACP – Palazzo Franchetti, San Marco 2842
Open from 10am to 6pm
Closed on Tuesday
www.acp-palazzofranchetti.com