Star architect Kengo Kuma comes to Chemnitz for a lecture

The important German architect Frei Otto is one of those personalities who are generally not associated with his birthplace of Chemnitz Siegmar and Saxony. His 100th birthday on 31 May 2025, Chemnitz's title year as European Capital of Culture 2025, is an opportunity for the city of Chemnitz and the Garage Campus, the Capital of Culture's intervention area, to make this connection more visible - true to the Chemnitz Capital of Culture motto "C the unseen".

The City of Chemnitz and the Garage Campus are working with numerous partners and supporters to put together a multi-part programme that builds on each other and consists of events, workshops, exhibitions, networking formats and specific projects. Three events are planned for the first half of 2024. The programme will kick off in January 2024 with Kengo Kuma, an internationally renowned Japanese architect. He is travelling to Chemnitz at the invitation of Building Mayor Michael Stötzer and will find out about the intervention areas of the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025, in particular the Garage Campus, and urban development in Chemnitz.

Go back to nature - Japanese architect Kengo Kuma in Chemnitz

Time and place: Friday, 19 January, 6.30 pm; TU Chemnitz, Central Lecture Hall and Seminar Building, Reichenhainer Straße 70

The Japanese star architect Kengo Kuma is committed to the nature and tradition of Asia in his buildings: "The essence of my work is the use of natural materials to create airy, open spaces filled with sunlight," says Kengo Kuma, describing his aim. In his architecture, Kengo Kuma succeeds in effectively combining archaic materials, traditional Japanese architecture and innovative technologies.

In addition to sustainable design and progressive thinking, Kengo Kuma and Frei Otto share the same task at different times: an Olympic stadium. While the architectural firm Behnisch & Partner of architect Günter Behnisch, who grew up in Lockwitz near Dresden, planned the Olympic facilities with park, stadiums and roof for the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Frei Otto was involved as an idea generator and consultant for the Olympic roof. Kengo Kuma, on the other hand, was allowed to design the Tokyo 2020 Olympic stadium in the spirit of "humanity, nature and intimacy", according to his own statement.

On Friday, 19 January at 6.30 pm, Kengo Kuma will give a public lecture in English on his work and principles entitled "Go back to nature" in the large lecture theatre at Chemnitz University of Technology.

The programme also includes short contributions from the Mayor of Chemnitz Michael Stötzer, Belinda Rukschcio, Deputy Chair of the Board of the Federal Foundation of Baukultur, Tonia Schmitz, scientific coordinator for projects as part of the "New European Bauhaus" initiative and Sustainability Lead at the Bauhaus University Weimar, and Dresden architect and university lecturer Prof. Tobias Maisch. Tobias Maisch on the programme. The evening will be moderated by Dirk Dobiéy, co-founder of Age of Artists and member of the Garage Campus core team.

Admission is free. Free tickets and information here.

Kuma was invited by the EU-Japan Festival Foundation, whose Annual General Meeting in Tokyo was attended by Mayor of Culture Dagmar Ruscheinsky and Chemnitz2025 Programme Director Stefan Schmidtke in spring, where they presented the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025.

Background: Frei Otto

Frei Otto is one of the world's most renowned architects of the 20th century. He is famous for his tent-like, filigree roof constructions, which were built using lightweight construction methods. Perhaps the most famous of these is the roof of the Munich Olympic Stadium. He was inspired by nature and is one of the most important representatives of organic architecture. His aim was to build light and flexible structures using as little material and energy as possible. For his roofs, which often seem to float above the buildings, he used steel cables, nets, arches and umbrellas.

* modified on 18 January 2024