TOTO GALLERY・MA announces new exhibition “Kazuo Shinohara: Inscribe Eternity in Space – a centennial exhibition with 100 questions” to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of architect Kazuo Shinohara.

Kazuo Shinohara (1925–2006) studied under Kiyoshi Seike (1918–2005) at Tokyo Institute of Technology (now Institute of Science Tokyo). Upon graduating, Shinohara began his career as a professor architect at the same university. He set up Shinohara Atelier upon his retirement from teaching, with its base in his own house and studio, House in Yokohama (1985), where he continued to produce designs and theoretical writings. Many architects who came under his influence now stand at the forefront of the global architectural scene, including members of the so-called “Shinohara School” that consisted of Itsuko Hasegawa, Toyo Ito, and Kazunari Sakamoto.

Kazuo Shinohara proclaimed that “a house is a work of art” and devoted a great deal of energy to the design of small houses. Shinohara’s houses are now undergoing a period of re-assessment in Japan and overseas, praised as one of the pinnacles of Japan’s achievements in residential design. Published together with this proclamation was one of his early masterpieces, Umbrella House (1961), which was relocated and resurrected in 2022 on the campus of Vitra in Weil am Rhein, Germany, just outside of Basel. House in White (1966), House of Earth (1966), and Tanikawa House (1974) have all been preserved through renovation or even relocation efforts.

For this exhibition, we welcome guest curators Shin-ichi Okuyama, Momoyo Kaijima, and Seng Kuan as our collaborators. Focusing on the theme of “eternity,” the exhibition reconsiders the image of Shinohara as an architect who continuously asked himself questions throughout his life.

The exhibition features original objects such as the drawings, models, sketches, as well as furniture produced by Shinohara Laboratory. These exhibits are framed through 100 questions extracted from Shinohara writings, following the self-described trajectory from the First Style to the Fourth Style and revealing new insights into both his professional activities and Shinohara as an individual.

The exhibition further includes sketches of Shinohara’s unfinished work House in Tateshina (2006, study), which anticipates an eventual Fifth Style.

We hope this exhibition will help convey to future generations Shinohara’s legacy in space making and architectural discourse.