"The answer was not simply to erase architecture, nor to make it stand out. The challenge was to discover the right "relationship" between a building and the place where it stands." —Kengo Kumo

Kengo Kuma, one of Japan's most highly awarded architects, reflects on the origins of his design philosophy and his long and distinguished career. He describes the Tokyo neighborhoods that shaped him—from Okurayama and Denenchofu to Yoyogi and beyond—and traces the experiences, encounters and ideas that led him to question the heavy, assertive architecture dominant at the time.

In its place, he developed an approach rooted in relationships: with site, with the senses, with memory, and with natural materials such as bamboo, wood, paper, fabric, ceramic and earth.

Kuma's groundbreaking design philosophy has given rise to many iconic projects, including:

• Kirosan Observatory: "Anti-architecture" that seeks to erase form, leaving only landscape and experience
• The Water/Glass Villa: an early project exploring architecture as a transparent, "invisible" form
• Hiroshige Museum of Art: organized around a large opening that reconnects the town with its historic shrine
• Nezu Museum: approached through a bamboo grove that transitions visitors from city to calm
• SunnyHills Pineapple Cake Shop: a delicate wooden lattice structure using traditional Japanese joinery to create remarkable lightness and transparency
• Plus 21 other notable projects

Kuma's work pursues designs that yield quietly to their surroundings. This reflects his idea of makeru kenchiku,"architecture that loses" —buildings that do not impose themselves on a site, but instead listen to it, respond to it, and are shaped by it.This book is both an account of Kuma's award-winning projects and an accessible introduction to the history, materials and ideas behind contemporary Japanese architecture.