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Kengo Kuma is a Japanese architect who has rightfully gained a lot of reputation in sustainable design architecture.

Kengo Kuma is a Japanese architect who has rightfully gained a lot of reputation in sustainable design architecture.

What is so inspiring about his work is that it goes against modern architectural design that we see in large cities.

According to Great Big Story, Kengo has no interest in building the biggest buildings with the latest engineering breakthroughs.

Instead, he focuses on low-rise buildings that stand out from the crowd by using only local materials to give a sense of healing and ease.

Because people associate concrete cities with stress, his vision is to create sustainable architecture for the environment and human beings.

The mainly renewable materials that you immediately see aim to show a healing effect on nature, but also on the humans that use the buildings.

By using a lot of sustainable bamboo, as well as making sure there are plenty of green plants to bring nature into the buildings, he does seem to achieve to create a calming environment.

And the advantage of using natural materials is that if part of the building breaks, you can replace the parts rather than having to completely rebuild it like with concrete.

Amazingly, his designs cover everything from 30 square feet tiny houses to a new national stadium for the Olympics.

And he has stayed true to his low-rise vision even with the stadium. What used to be a 60-meter tall building will now only stand 50 meters tall.

Watch the full video from Great Big Story below:


Chris is one of GreenCitizen’s writers who has been a long-time advocate of individual responsibility when it comes to the environment. He shares GreenCitizen's passion for making the world a better place every day of the year.

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