The Olympics and consequently Olympic architecture are supposed to win. Exuberant. They are full of pride, showmanship and spectacle. The 1964 Olympics' National Stadium in Tokyo was designed by Kenzo Tange. It is a striking, massive design that features a famous, swooping, suspended roof. The mind-numbing Birds Nest, designed by Ai Weiweis in Beijing for 2008 Olympics, is like a giant cocoon for a steely beast, with its stretched-out steel beams zigzagging all the way. The futuristic, turbocharged helmet design Zaha Hadid created for Tokyo's National Stadium stunned everyone.AdvertisementAfter Hadid's plan was rejected and Kengo Kuma was chosen to design it, he began to create the opposite of a majestic stadium. It is tragic in one way that the venue will remain empty for the duration. It's also appropriate.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe stadium's design is so alive that the 60,000 seats can be colored in five different earth colors to make a forest-pattern mosaic. Kuma explained to me that the mosaic design was a natural solution for the problem of no spectators during the Olympics. The idea fits perfectly with the COVID situation, which is an accident.AdvertisementThe design also speaks to a deeper level. The original Tanges design was a symbol of 1960s Japan's economic boom. But the National Stadium is a new era. Kuma stated that the new era doesn't revolve around expansion. The new era should focus on intimacy and human experience. My proposal is intimate and very human. Kuma is 66 years old and has a casual, academic demeanor. His most notable works include the Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum and V&A Dundee, in Scotland, the Dallas Rolex Tower and, now, the National Stadium.Kuma designed a stadium for these Games that is modest in comparison to mega-arenas. It was meant to blend in with the surrounding environment and age gracefully. The National Stadium, although huge in size, is a simple ellipse that has been covered in greenery to blend in with the Meiji Shrine's surrounding forests. The stadium's interior feels almost like it is a forest thanks to the multilayered shadows and wooden beams that line its roof.AdvertisementThe design was clever and efficient. It maximizes ventilation through the use of seasonal winds, local wood, and uses wood from all 47 prefectures. The design is not iconic, but Martin van der Linden, a Dutch architect, said it. I like it very much once the vegetation has bloomed and the stadium will look more like a large planter.AdvertisementThe building, despite its size, is a classic Kuma. His wider architectural philosophy is opposed to 20th-century, industrial, efficient corporate architecture and aims for more human design. This philosophy was on full display at an ongoing Kumas design exhibit at Tokyo's National Museum of Modern Art as part of Japan Cultural Expo. Kuma is a self-described enemy of boxes and strives to create architecture that inspires people to live in a world with more joyous, walkable streets.AdvertisementKuma believes that a street could become a co-working space or a play area for children in modern society. Kuma sees a city with mellow, intimate walkways and parks that are rich in places to live, work and play. He doesn't think about the kind of grandeur required by the Games.AdvertisementKumas core themeoblique angles is based on the idea that humans are free-ranging creatures that can roam over all of the earth's surfaces and are not meant to be contained in boxes or grids. This principle is used to create a more natural high-rise structure that looks as much like terrain than the typical skyscraper. The Dallas Rolex Tower, Texas's iconic tower, uses this principle to gently twist from its foundation. Soft surfaces is another theme that can be seen at the Takayanagi community center in Japan. This building has a translucent washi paper roof that allows for gentler, textured partitioning than hard walls and glass.Kenjiro Hosoka, exhibit curator, said that some people view Kumas architecture as photogenic. We wanted people to see that his designs were born out of necessity.AdvertisementAdvertisementKuma sees the National Stadium as a monument to a resurgent Japan, rather than the one organizers had envisioned. Instead of a symbol of Japan's revival, Kuma believes that it will be part of an era where economic contraction and human intimacy. This vision is contrary to the Olympics' practice. It focuses on growth and victory and local activists have criticized it as a way for corporations to profit with very little benefit to citizens. Most economists agree that the Olympics have had primarily negative impacts on host cities. The Tokyo Olympics are no exception. They were held this year despite opposition from most Japanese citizens for much of the second and first halves of 2020 and 2021.AdvertisementCoronavirus, currently ravaging Tokyo, was not the only reason that the Games were held. Despite the fact that the Games were held in the summer to please American television networks, the Tokyo 1964 Olympics were held October because of the dangerous summer heat. Climate change has made it worse over the past 50 years. Olympic construction has resulted in the displacement of millions to millions of poor people living in host cities over the years. An extensive body of journalistic and scholarly research shows that the Olympics have criminalized poverty in the area, led to increased surveillance and policing, and exploited laborers in Tokyo, as well as other cities around the globe.AdvertisementAdvertisementThis Olympic world is quite the opposite of Kumas vision. The MOMAT exhibit shows this. The MOMAT exhibit also features a unique project in which Kumas's firm tracked cats in Tokyo using GPS. This allowed them to learn from Tokyo's feline residents how to create better public spaces. Many of these conclusions are very applicable to humans. One example is how cats like quarters that fit their small bodies. Kuma says that we all need space that is right for our bodies. However, more space does not make our lives better.AdvertisementThe firm also noticed that cats were able to move freely through the city, despite the fact that they follow the topography rather than following the straight lines of a typical city plan. Kuma writes that each cat's path is completely free and these are exactly the routes we would like to follow in the post-COVID world of 2020.Kuma stated that he sees a new generation of Japanese architects who are more interested in local and recycled materials, greenery and sustainable designs made for people, not cars and industry. The National Stadium will continue to be used for future Tokyo sporting and cultural events. It won't serve as a memorial to the triumph and disaster of the coronavirus Olympics or as a sign of something new in Japan. Instead, it will serve as one part of a more welcoming Tokyo.Kuma stated that he has hope for the future Japanese city. It is clear that this future doesn't care as much about the Olympics.
