Kengo Kuma to deliver talk on first birthday of V&A Dundee

Mr Kuma will return to Scotland’s first design museum to discuss how designing V&A Dundee has informed the National Stadium, the main venue for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The stadium is one of the biggest projects Kengo Kuma has participated in to date, situated in green parkland in central Tokyo and built using wood sourced from every region of Japan.

He will present his approach to design, the links between the two projects, and discuss his belief that the National Stadium should be “a symbol of a new age, a new period of natural design”.

V&A Dundee is also holding a day of free family activities from 10am to 5pm on Sunday 15 September to celebrate its first birthday, including free tours of the museum, live music, talks from designers, and drop-in design activities for all ages in the Thomson Learning Centre, including creating a new banknote to mark the first birthday. Doors open for Kengo Kuma’s talk at 19.00.

Philip Long, director of V&A Dundee, said: “In its first year V&A Dundee has welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors to enjoy our remarkable architecture, world-class exhibitions, our permanent Scottish Design Galleries and many exciting events and workshops.

“It has been a thrilling year, from the moment we opened to the world last September. From that moment our visitors have brought V&A Dundee to life.

“We are honoured to be welcoming Kengo Kuma back to host a special evening on the first birthday, and we look forward very much to our second year, particularly our upcoming major exhibitions Hello, Robot and Mary Quant.”

Tickets and more information about the full range of birthday events is available from the V&A website.