Business of Design Week (BODW) - Hong Kong 29 Nov - 4 Dec, 2010

One of the most significant events on the international design calendar, BODW is Asia's leading annual event on design, innovation and brands organised by the Hong Kong Design Centre since 2002. Bringing the best of the global design world to Hong Kong, BODW has aimed to encourage businesses to unleash the power of design by focusing on the vital relationship and complex interplay between design and business.

This annual event features a series of exhibitions, forums, outreach programmes and networking opportunities for designers, business leaders, educators, SMEs and the public to exchange ideas and address a wide array of 21st century challenges. An unparalleled line-up of experts, world-wide leaders and creative legends in the field of design and innovation will gather to promote the value and power of design.

http://www.bodw.com/2010/eng/index.php

GC Prostho Museum Research Center, Kengo Kuma

Japanese Architect Kengo Kuma (隈 研吾, born 1954)  is one of the speakers in BODW 2010. 


Kuma was born in Kanagawa, Japan, and attended Eiko Gakuen junior and senior high schools. After completing a major in architecture at the University of Tokyo in 1979, he worked for a time at Nihon Sekkei and TODA Corporation. He then moved to New York for further studies at Columbia University as a visiting researcher from 1985 to 1986. In 1987, he founded the "Spatial Design Studio". In 1990, "Kengo Kuma & Associates", his own studio was established. During the 1998-1999 academic year, he was a visiting professor on the faculty of environmental information at Keio University. In 2008, Kuma earned his Ph.D from Keio University , and he is currently a professor on the faculty of science and technology there, in the department of system design engineering.

Kuma's stated goal is to "recover the tradition of Japanese buildings" and to reinterpret it for the 21st century. In 1997 he won the prestigious Architectural Institute of Japan Award. Kengo Kuma is still designing architectural buildings with the inspiration of light and nature to achieve his goals such as the LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) Group's Japan Headquarters as well as one of the largest spas in the Caribbean for Mandarin Oriental Dellis Cay.

My aim is 'to recover the place'.
the place is a result of nature and time, this is the most important
aspect. I think my architecture is some kind of frame of nature.
with it we can experience nature more deeply and more intimately.
transparency is a characteristic of japanese architecture,
I try to use light and natural materials to get a new kind of
transparency.