Kengo Kuma's 'The Floating Kitchen' at Venice Architecture Biennale

At the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale, Japanese architect Kengo Kuma presented 'The Floating Kitchen', a site-specific installation at IUAV that explores the kitchen as a space for daily life and cultural exchange. Commissioned alongside Winy Maas of MVRDV and media-artist Au Yeung Ying Chai, Kuma focused on the Chinese province of Chengdu, collecting vernacular objects to reflect local customs and social practices. The installation contrasts with Maas's 'Infinity Kitchen' by emphasizing impermanence, diversity, and human relationships over standardized design. Kuma critiques 20th-century architecture for suppressing vitality, advocating for a dissolved, permeable structure that prioritizes living elements. He highlights Chengdu's integration of nature and urban life, and its distinctive spicy cuisine, as inspirations. The work is part of the biennale's theme on the future of domestic space.