The event was honored with the presence of Ambassador of Japan to GreeceMr. Koichi Thiswho in his greeting said: «Architecture is a field of human creativity where Greeks and Japanese have contributed design and philosophy to a significant degree and at a global level. For this reason, tonight’s event, the lecture of Mr. Kengo Same to youis among the highlights of a series of events held to celebrate this year, which marks the 125th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two countries and has been declared the Japan-Greece Year of Culture and Tourism.”.
Earlier in the day, as part of the collaboration, the The Ellinikon Experience Centre hosted a roundtable discussion with architecture students from Japan and Greece. The participants presented the results of the educational workshops “Material Cultures: the way of wood and the way of stone” organized by the Embassy of Japan, with the support of Alberta Shipmanagement and Kuma Lab. These workshops, held successively in Japan and Greece, were coordinated by Mr. KUMA Kengo, Emeritus Professor at the University of Tokyo and founder of the Kengo Kuma & Associates architectural office, and Dr. Vassilis Ganiatsas, Professor at the School of Architectural Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens. The organizational guidance was provided by Mr. Hirano Toshiki, Project Assistant Professor, Kuma Lab, University of Tokyo and Mr. Aris Kafantaris, Chief Project Manager, Kengo Kuma & Associates Tokyo.
On her behalf LAMDA Developmenth Chief Marketing & Communications Officer Sissy Iliopoulouin her opening speech, thanked the Embassy of Japan in Greece and the contributors of the Workshops of the two countries, for the cooperation in the preparation and implementation of the extremely successful events hosted at The Ellinikon Experience Centre. He also mentioned the Company’s special collaboration with KUMA Kengo and his architectural firm Kengo Kuma & Associates who are responsible for the design of LAMDA Development’s Riviera Galleria, the first high-end shopping destination located in Agios Kosmos Marina.
In his inspirational speech, on “The Reconnection of Architecture with Nature”o SAME TO YOU Kengo emphasized that cultural exchange has always been a driving force for the creation of new ideas, and of course new architecture. Through a series of projects of his office in Japan, Europe and America, he presented his constant effort to utilize local materials and construction techniques in each place. In this way, an idiosyncratic form of cultural exchange takes place and finds expression through materiality, producing spaces that are both original and familiar. In closing, he said that through his intense engagement with Greece, in recent years, he discovered many similarities between Greece and Japan, especially in the love of the two peoples for nature and for an architecture that is born through the landscape.
The speech, which was broadcast via livestream from The Ellinikon YouTube channel, was attended by the General Secretary of Tourism Policy and Development of the Ministry of Tourism, Mr. Koutsoukou, officials of the Ministry of Culture, the local government, as well as educational and cultural representatives. institutions and schools, Institutes and Associations of Architecture, Architectural Offices and construction companies, media representatives and many others.
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