Message from Sou Fujimoto
Rather than focusing on looking back at the past, this survey is firmly anchored in the present and looking toward the future. As well as representing the culmination of work to date, it explores potential orientations for continuation. One of the roles of an architect is to create places that weave together relationships between people and between people and nature. For me, such a place is like a “future forest” where natural and human-made blend together. We live in an age where people perceive value in many different ways. Such fragmentation of values brings solitude as well as benefits, so I look for ways to engender connections that enrich people’s lives. It would be wonderful if the exhibition could encourage people to imagine how the future would look if we lived in buildings and communities like these. I hope that it will boost people’s hopes, inciting them to think positively about the future.
Biography
Born 1971 in Hokkaido, Japan. Graduated from the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering at the University of Tokyo, he established Sou Fujimoto Architects in 2000. Among his recent renowned projects is the 1st prize for the 2014 International Competition for the Second Folly of Montpellier, France [L’Arbre Blanc (The White Tree)]. Additionally in 2015, 2017 and 2018, he won several international competitions with the 1st prize in various European countries. In Japan, he was selected as the Expo site design producer for the 2025 Japan International Exposition (Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan). In 2024, he was selected as the designer of the International Center Station Northern Area Complex in Sendai, Japan. His notable works include; House of Music, Hungary (2021, Budapest), Ishinomaki Cultural Center (2021, Miyagi, Japan), Shiroiya Hotel (2020, Gunma, Japan), L’Arbre Blanc (The White Tree, 2019, Montpellier, France), Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2013 (London), House NA (2011, Tokyo), Musashino Art University Museum & Library (2010, Tokyo), House N (2008, Oita, Japan) and many more.
