Question 1

True or false: Kuma often uses local, natural materials like wood, stone, and bamboo.

Accepted Answer

True. He champions ‘anti-object’ architecture, blending buildings into their environment with natural materials.

Question 2

True or false: Kuma’s first major project was a skyscraper in Dubai.

Accepted Answer

False. His early fame came from the small, poetic ‘Water/Glass’ house in Japan, not a Dubai tower.

Question 3

True or false: Kuma worked as a carpenter before becoming an architect.

Accepted Answer

False. He studied architecture at the University of Tokyo and Columbia, with no carpentry background.

Question 4

True or false: He designed a Starbucks in Dazaifu, Japan, with a lattice of wooden sticks.

Accepted Answer

True. This iconic 2011 Starbucks uses 2,000 diagonal cedar sticks, creating a dramatic, woven interior.

Question 5

True or false: Kengo Kuma designed the stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Accepted Answer

True. He designed the New National Stadium, featuring wood and greenery, a departure from typical Olympic arenas.

Question 6

True or false: Kuma’s first building was a concrete parking garage in Tokyo.

Accepted Answer

False. His first major built work was the M2 Building (1991), a whimsical, columned structure, not a garage.

Question 7

True or false: Kuma collaborated with Frank Gehry on the Guggenheim Bilbao.

Accepted Answer

False. Gehry designed Bilbao alone; Kuma has never co-designed with Gehry, though both are famous figures.

Question 8

True or false: Kuma created a tea room made entirely of synthetic spider silk.

Accepted Answer

True. In 2019, he built the ‘Moving Tea House’ using a carbon-fiber-reinforced silk composite, blending tradition with tech.

Kengo Kuma Trivia Questions