Outstanding architecture lies at the foundation of the dynamic cultural center that the Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology has become in fulfillment of its founders’ vision. The symbolic moment when the Japanese architect Arata Isozaki came forth with an offer of a design for the institution’s building defined for years to come the directions for the growth and development of the new museum and established its firm bonds with the design world. In the exhibition facility designed by Isozaki’s erstwhile collaborator, Krzysztof Ingarden, the institution is now launching a series of presentations focusing on the oeuvres of the greatest Japanese architects active today who were once associated with the iconic figure of Arata Isozaki.

It would be difficult to imagine a more appropriate figure to inaugurate a series of Japanese architecture exhibitions in Poland than Shigeru Ban. The designer has visited our country several times due to the Polish involvement in supporting Ukrainian refugees, in their own country and in ours alike. The collaboration initiated in 2022 is still continued today. Shigeru Ban’s commitment sets an example for his profession, demonstrating how valuable and responsible architectural work can be when it is not oriented solely toward wealthy clients and influential decision-makers.

By its very nature, the exhibition is a limited selection from this ample and diverse oeuvre, developed over the span of four decades. The selected works have been grouped into three main sections: High-Profile Architecture (1st floor) and the Architecture of Recovery alongside Experimental Products (2nd floor). These divisions, however, should not be considered impenetrable as projects in different sections often show shared characteristics, which, for the purposes of this exhibition, have been described as solutions typical of Shigeru Ban’s design work.

The directors, the curators, and the whole museum team have the tremendous honor of presenting the figure and work of an outstanding artist whose design practice overcomes technological, functional and social barriers with great force, offering an approach to architecture that responds to the challenges of reality — pragmatic, aesthetic, and, most importantly, profoundly human.