About

This documentary chronicles a 15-year journey following one of Japan’s celebrated architects, Kengo Kuma. He has designed hundreds of architectural projects all over the world. What makes his work so fascinating that people from around the globe seek him out?
His designs are characterized by small, particle-like elements and make extensive use of natural materials like wood. Through the film, audiences will experience the wisdom of his architecture, which seeks harmony between humanity and nature.
From 2010 to 2025, director Hiromoto Oka, armed with a single camera, traveled the world with his former university mentor, Kuma, to document over 80 of his projects and their creative processes.
This period witnessed the Great East Japan Earthquake, the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the worsening effects of climate change.
As poetic and fragmented as a Japanese haiku, the film gradually reveals the philosophy behind Kuma’s work, which ranges from the main stadium for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics to small pavilions for students and the public.

Architecuture in the movie

Yusuhara Community & Culture Center
Kirosan Observatory
Noh Stage in the Forest
Nakagawa-machi Bato Hiroshige Museum of Art
Takayanagi Community Center
Stone Museum
Great (Bamboo) Wall
Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum
Lotus House
Yusuhara Town Hall
Suntory Museum of Art
Ginzan Onsen Fujiya
Nezu Museum
Garden Terrace Nagasaki Hotels & Resorts
GC Prostho Museum Research Center
Yusuhara Wooden Bridge Museum
Community Market Yusuhara
Mêmu Meadows
Starbucks Coffee at Dazaifutenmangu Omotesando
Nagaoka City Hall Aore
Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center
Kyushu Geibun Kan Museum (Main Building)
Frac Sud – Cité de l’art contemporain
Ginza Kabukiza
Darius Milhaud Conservatory of Music
SunnyHills at Minami-Aoyama
Cité des Arts et de la Culture de Besançon
Hayama no Mori
University Of Tokyo, Ubiquitous Computing Research Building
China Academy of Art’s Folk Art Museum
Entrepot Macdonald – Education and Sports Complex
Takao Sanguchi Station
Iiyama Cultural Hall
Mushizuka
Komatsu Matere Fabric Laboratory fa-bo
Beijing Qianmen
Under One Roof Project for the EPFL ArtLab
Minamisanriku Sun Sun Shopping Village
Minamisanriku Hamare Utatsu
Coeda House
Portland Japanese Garden Cultural Village
Japan House São Paulo
MIFA 1862
Kengo Kuma: a LAB for materials
Moriyama City Library
V&A Dundee
National Stadium
Xiangcheng Yangcheng Lake Tourist Transportation Center
Ozu-Ana
Meiji Jingu Museum
Ochanomizu Univ. Hisao & Hiroko Taki Plaza
Toyoma Kaikokan
Japan National Stadium
Taketa History and Culture Museum
CLT Park Harumi
Odunpazarı Modern Museum
Nakahashi
Rikuzentakata Amway House – Machi no Engawa
Tokorozawa Sakura Town Kadokawa Culture Museum
Takanawa Gateway Station
Taketa Castle Town Plaza
Nabeshima Shoto Park Toilet
GREENable HIRUZEN
Minamisanriku 311 Memorial
Musée Albert Kahn
Hans Christian Andersen Museum
Kuma Mobile Office Higashikawa
Kanjoin Temple
Yama-Tani
Outdoor music hall D Stage
Moriyama City Hall
KENGO KUMA：Onomatopoeia Architecture at Venice
Aoi Aso Shrine / National Treasure Memorial Hall
Saint Denis Pleyel Station
Mabi Reconstruction Disaster Prevention Park – Bamboo Gate
Engawa – Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Southern Apex
UCCA Ceramic Museum
Expo 2025 Portugal Pavilion
Expo 2025 Malaysia Pavilion
Expo 2025 Qatar Pavilion
Expo 2025 EARTH MART
World Heritage and Pyrenees National Park House in Gavarnie