Kazuo Shinohara
Illustration — Tokyo Institute of Technology Centennial Hall April 2, 1925 – July 15, 2006 was a Japanese architect, forming what is now widely known as the "Shinohara School", which has been linked to the works of Toyo Ito, Kazunari Sakamoto and Itsuko Hasegawa, Kazuyo Sejima, Ryue Nishizawa. His effects on the discipline as a theorist, designer and teacher have been immense." He studied at Tokyo Institute of Technology, (TIT) finishing in 1953, and going on to become professor in 1970. He established his own practice in 1954, going on to design more than 30 residential buildings, as well as many key public buildings across Japan.
Kazuo Shinohara

Wiiii · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Born
- 1925 · Shizuoka.
- Died
- 2006 · Kawasaki.
- Nationality
- Japan · Empire of Japan
- Occupation
- architect · university teacher
- Education
- Tokyo Institute of Technology
- Honours
- Medal with Purple Ribbon
- Languages
- Japanese
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Illustration — Tokyo Institute of Technology Centennial Hall April 2, 1925 – July 15, 2006 was a Japanese architect, forming what is now widely known as the "Shinohara School", which has been linked to the works of Toyo Ito, Kazunari Sakamoto and Itsuko Hasegawa, Kazuyo Sejima, Ryue Nishizawa. His effects on the discipline as a theorist, designer and teacher have been immense." He studied at Tokyo Institute of Technology, (TIT) finishing in 1953, and going on to become professor in 1970. He established his own practice in 1954, going on to design more than 30 residential buildings, as well as many key public buildings across Japan.
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Authority files
wikidata · Q330274 · wikipedia · Kazuo Shinohara
In this article
List of selected works
List of selected works
His work is generally classified as having strong qualities of lucidity and ephemerality, and for these reasons is often seen as ideologically influential on Toyo Ito's work. He was awarded the Architectural Institute of Japan's (AIJ) grand prize in 2005. In 2010 the Biennale di Venezia awarded a special commemorative Golden Lion in memory of Kazuo Shinohara.
• Illustration — Japan Ukiyo-e Museum in Matsumoto (1982) • Kugayama House (1954) • House in Komae (1960) • Umbrella House (1961) • House with a Big Roof (1961) • House with an Earthen Floor (1963) • North House in Hanayama (1965) • House in White (1966) • House of Earth (1966) • Uncompleted House (1970) • Prism House (1974) • Tanikawa House (1974) • Uehara House (1976) • House Under High Voltage Lines (1981) • House in Yokohama (1985) • Japan Ukiyo-e Museum in Matsumoto (1982) • Tokyo Institute of Technology (TIT) Centennial Hall; Tokyo (1987) • House on a Curved Road (1987) • Kumamoto Police Station (1990) • K2 Building; Osaka (1990)
Exhibitions
Exhibitions
• 2010 - Les Rencontres d'Arles festival. Arles, France. • 2025 - Kazuo Shinohara: Inscribe Eternity in Space. Tokyo, 17.04.2025-22.06.2025. Curated by Shin-ichi Okuyama, Momoyo Kaijima and Seng Kuan. • 2026 - Kazuo Shinohara: The House as a Work of Art. Barcelona, 09.04.2026-17.05.2026. Curated by Enric Massip-Bosch.
Identity
Identity
Kazuo Shinohara is recorded as having received Medal with Purple Ribbon. Within the Encyclopedia. Connected to 1 other published record in the VALÉORINE Encyclopedia.

Umbrella House by Shinohara Kazuo, on the Vitra Campus, June 2022
Gryffindor
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
Explore 1925–2006
The full dated record · 5 entries
1925
Kazuo Shinohara born at Shizuoka.
1966
House in White is dated 1966.
1977
Ashitakasusono no Jūtaku is dated 1977.
1982
Japan Ukiyo-e Museum is dated 1982.
2006
Kazuo Shinohara died at Kawasaki.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Shizuoka.
Birth place
Kawasaki.
Death place
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Portrait of Kazuo Shinohara.
- 2.Term first published in SD: Space Design, Jan 1979
- 3."After the Crash: Architecture in Post-Bubble Japan; Thomas Daniell, Princeton Architectural Press, 2008.
- 4."Beyond the Bubble", Botond Bognar
- 5.Rem Koolhaas Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement , Biennale press release, 16 July 2010
Bibliography printed in the source article · 6
- Massip-Bosch, Enric. Five Forms of Emotion: Kazuo Shinohara and the House as a Work of Art. Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. 2015.
- Dehli, Christian. Kazuo Shinohara: 3 Houses. Quart Verlag. 2019. 978-3-03761-167-8.
- Dehli, Christian. Kazuo Shinohara: View from This Side. Rollo Press. 2019. 978-3-906213-28-6.
- Jacquet, Benoit. The Carpenter and the Architect: A history of wood construction in Japan. EPFL Press. 2021. 978-2-88915-445-6.
- Joanelly, Tibor. Shinoharistics: An Essay About a House. Kommode Verlag. 2020. 978-3-9525014-7-4.
- Dehli, Christian. Kazuo Shinohara: The Umbrella House Project. Vitra Design Museum. 2022. 978-3-94585-255-2.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q330274: Kazuo ShinoharaWikimedia Foundation
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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