was a Japanese architect, forming what is now widely known as the "Shinohara School",Term first published in SD: Space Design, Jan 1979 which has been linked to the works of Toyo Ito, Kazunari Sakamoto and Itsuko Hasegawa, Kazuyo Sejima, Ryue Nishizawa. As architectural critic Thomas Daniell put it, "A key figure who explicitly rejected Western influences yet appears on almost every branch of the family tree of contemporary Japanese architecture... is Kazuo Shinohara... His effects on the discipline as a theorist, designer and teacher have been immense.""After the Crash: Architecture in Post-Bubble Japan; Thomas Daniell, Princeton Architectural Press, 2008. He studied at Tokyo Institute of Technology, (TIT) finishing in 1953, and going on to become professor in 1970. He established his own practice in 1954, going on to design more than 30 residential buildings, as well as many key public buildings across Japan.
His work is generally classified as having strong qualities of lucidity and ephemerality, and for these reasons is often seen as ideologically influential on Toyo Ito's work."Beyond the Bubble", Botond Bognar
He was awarded the Architectural Institute of Japan's (AIJ) grand prize in 2005. In 2010 the Biennale di Venezia awarded a special commemorative Golden Lion in memory of Kazuo Shinohara.Rem Koolhaas Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement , Biennale press release, 16 July 2010
List of selected works
Kugayama House (1954) House in Komae (1960) Umbrella House (1961) House with a Big Roof (1961) House with an Earthen Floor (1963) North House in Hanayama (1965) House in White (1966) House of Earth (1966) Uncompleted House (1970) Prism House (1974) Tanikawa House (1974) Uehara House (1976) House Under High Voltage Lines (1981) House in Yokohama (1985) Japan Ukiyo-e Museum in Matsumoto (1982) Tokyo Institute of Technology (TIT) Centennial Hall; Tokyo (1987) House on a Curved Road (1987) Kumamoto Police Station (1990) K2 Building; Osaka (1990)
Bibliography
Exhibitions 2010 - Les Rencontres d'Arles festival. Arles, France. 2025 - Kazuo Shinohara: Inscribe Eternity in Space. Tokyo, 17.04.2025-22.06.2025. Curated by Shin-ichi Okuyama, Momoyo Kaijima and Seng Kuan. 2026 - Kazuo Shinohara: The House as a Work of Art. Barcelona, 09.04.2026-17.05.2026. Curated by Enric Massip-Bosch.
References
External links
Article on "The Intrinsic Structure of Shinohara's Work" Architectural Record's obituary of Shinohara Publication: "A Street with Human Shadows" Article on "The Influence of Milieu in the Residential Architecture of Shinohara Kazuo" Excerpt of the 2G monograph n. 58/59 "Kazuo Shinohara: Casas/Houses", Enric Massip-Bosch, David B. Stewart, Shin-Ichi Okuyama. Barcelona: Gustavo Gili, 2011 Conversation between Kazuo Shinohara and Hans Ulrich Obrist published in Quaderns d'Arquitectura, n. 265, Barcelona 04.2014