17 May 2011

V&A at Dundee - Kengo Kuma press conference 21/5/11

Kengo Kuma press conference - 10am to 11.30 am, Saturday May 21st.
Dalhousie Building, Old Hawkhill,
University of Dundee

We will host a press conference with Kengo Kuma, the lead architect on the V&A at Dundee project, at the University of Dundee on Saturday May 21st. This is the only scheduled media time we have with Mr Kuma, who is also delivering two public lectures the same day.

Mr Kuma will be available at the University's Dalhousie Building for questions and photos. With time being fairly tight we may not be able to accommodate extended individual interviews but we will do what we can to meet any requests.

Please do let us know if you are planning to attend the press conference - this will enable us to plan Mr Kuma's time more effectively.

Mr Kuma will be giving his public lectures in the Dalhousie Building at 12.30pm and 6 pm. All tickets for both lectures have been taken up - over 1500 in total.

Kengo Kuma & Associates won the design competition for the V&A at Dundee building, which is set to transform Dundee and reconnect the city to the water.

A Professor at the Graduate School of Architecture at the University of Tokyo, Mr Kuma also holds the prestigious Architectural Institute of Japan Award (1997).

His public lecture is titled 'The Answer is Architecture' and will be presented at the University’s Dalhousie Building on Saturday May 21st, from 12.30 pm and then again from 6pm.

In this exclusive lecture, Mr Kuma will explore the role that architecture has in connecting people to their environment. He will discuss how a well-designed building acts as an operating system for society and can mark a defining moment of civilisation.

The title of the lecture answers the question of whether a building can enhance our relationship with the environment rather than detracting from it.

For more on the V&A at Dundee see www.vandaatdundee.com

The V&A at Dundee is being delivered by Design Dundee Ltd, a partnership between the V&A and Dundee City Council, the Universities of Dundee and Abertay Dundee, and Scottish Enterprise.

For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07800 581902