( CNN ) -- `` For architects , perfection is necessary , '' said Japanese architect Kengo Kuma . `` It is my mission to use the kindness and delicateness that old architecture had . I believe that this mission is not easy to complete . So I am planning to work until I fall down . '' With nearly 60 projects on the go across the world , Kuma 's search for perfection is all consuming ; he rarely takes a day off from work and sometimes even finished projects are analyzed and amended . The 55-year-old from Tokyo has become synonymous with delicate simplicity and sensitivity to a building 's surrounding . From the Great ( Bamboo ) Wall House located near the Great Wall of China outside of Beijing to the Suntory Museum of Art in Tokyo , Kuma has employed natural materials that complement a building 's location to great acclaim . View the gallery of Kuma 's spectacular buildings . `` I try to catch the atmosphere of the place where we build the house . We try to find out how the people live there and what kind of materials they use . After we find out the atmosphere of the place , we will think how we can relate that with the architecture . '' Using mostly glass and Chinese bamboo to make the house by the Great Wall , it comfortably blended into the natural surroundings , but the Suntory Museum of Art , completed in 2007 presented different challenges . `` Usually , a building in a massive developed area tends to be a sad building . However , I wanted to make a building which is warm and could feel a human 's touch . To make that ideal building , I used natural material such as Japanese paper and paulownia [ wood ] . I wanted to take back the human element even if the building was inside the city . '' Much of modern architecture is often unfairly portrayed as lacking that human element , but Kuma 's focus on retrieving and remaining Japanese traditions in architecture has gone some way to dispel that myth . It is a far cry from his initial architectural fascination with concrete , in part inspired by the Olympic stadium designed by Kenzo Tange for the 1964 Games in Tokyo . `` I learned that architecture can impress people . If the Olympics were not held in Tokyo , I might not have become an architect , '' he told CNN . If Tange 's buildings for the Olympics were responsible for sparking Kuma 's imagination , he 's followed a different path in his career . After earning a master 's degree in architecture from The University of Tokyo in 1979 and further study at Columbia University in New York , he returned to Japan in 1986 -- a boom time for architects . `` People who were only about 30-years-old could design a building . It was an era of post-modernism and a lot of young people were making outstanding buildings during that time . '' But the economic recession hit Japan in 1992 and it had a profound impact on Kuma 's life and changed his attitude to architecture . `` I did n't have a job in Tokyo for 10 years . I was designing small buildings in the countryside . I worked with a craftsman and studied how to use natural materials in those 10 years . From this experience , I learned the great aspects of Japanese traditional architecture . I started to design traditional Japanese architecture and foreign people took notice of the design , '' he said . `` I think the cities of Japan are a bit damaged by the concrete buildings , '' Kuma added . `` Because of the sub-prime issue and now another economic crisis , I feel this is again a good opportunity for architects to design buildings slowly . '' In focusing taking a more holistic approach to his craft , Kuma has promoted the humanizing elements of architecture and its ability of improve people 's lives . It 's an approach that he has likened to making sushi . `` There are two important things to make sushi . One is the material and the other is the skill ... For sushi , both the power of the material and skill is important and their balance is very important . `` I believe that this balance is what people want , '' Kuma continued . `` People and society are seeking the thing like sushi for the architecture and their city . A variety of people are interested in Japanese architecture and traditions and this is parallel to why sushi is popular in Western country . ''
Japanese architect has popularized sensitive Japanese elements in buildings . Has worked across the globe in museums and private residences . ` ` Architecture is like sushi : quality of material and design is very important ''