- Profile
George Kunihiro
George Kunihiro is an architect-activist and Professor of Architecture at Kokushikan University in Tokyo, Japan.
Professor Kunihiro was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1951 and moved to the United States in 1964. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Architecture degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1974, and his Master of Architecture degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1976. He had also attended the Doctoral Course in Architecture at the University of Tokyo.
Professor Kunihiro taught architectural design at Yale University, Columbia University, Harvard University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Simultaneous to his teaching career, he had his private practice in Los Angeles and New York for 15 years before returning to Tokyo in 1997 to found his international practice based in Japan. A member of the American Institute of Architects, where he serves as a Director of the Japan Chapter, and a member of the Japan Institute of Architects where he is the past Vice President and the Chairman of the International Relations Committee, Professor Kunihiro is currently the Deputy Chairman of the Architects Regional Council Asia (ARCASIA), the Vice Chairman of the modern Asian Architecture Network (mAAN), a non-profit organization and the Deputy Council Member for Region IV (Asia-Oceania) of the International Union of Architects (UIA).
Both as an architect and an educator, Professor Kunihiro have been active in practice, research and as an activist in architecture. He has built projects in the USA and in Japan addressing cultural expression in contemporary global society. As an Asian-American with global viewpoint, travelling continuously in search of personal identity, he has developed a view that architects must participate actively in political-economic arena using skills and knowledge in creating both universal and local built environments. "Floating Teahouse" exhibited in New York is an example of his pursuit of bi-cultural background. "Eastside Penthouse" completed in the New York's Upper Eastside, created a unique mix of the traditional Japanese Inn and the contemporary New York urban lifestyle.
In Asia, Professor Kunihiro has been active in the movement to conserve and revitalize modern cultural heritage in the developing Asian cities. His recent projects include Medan City Center Revitalization Study, Shanghai Industrial Heritage Revitalization Workshop and Istanbul Industrial Heritage Revitalization Workshop.
Professor Kunihiro has been on several international juries and lectures widely in international conferences.