Evening Lecture: Moreau Kusunoki – Resilience through Design in Museums

Register here!

Join AIA Japan for an evening lecture by Nicolas Moreau and Hiroko Kusunoki of Moreau Kusunoki, the acclaimed Paris-based architecture studio. Their talk, Resilience through Design in Museums, will share insights from their international practice and reflect on the evolving role of museums in contemporary society, and it will be followed by a Q&A and networking with drinks. CES credits pending. This will be an in-person and hybrid event.

Date: Tuesday, May 27, 2025
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Gensler Tokyo office
In-Person: Please register via our Peatix app here!
In-person tickets are currently only open for AIA and AIA Associate Members. We will open up to non-members closer to the event date if spots are available.

For online:
Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88149983489?pwd=ZmpLkRagXyzWJTPQqERHupSw9OVVEh.1
Meeting ID: 881 4998 3489
Passcode: 974565

This session, led by Nicolas Moreau and Hiroko Kusunoki, directors of Moreau Kusunoki, will explore the importance of resilience in the design and programming of cultural institutions to ensure they meet the evolving needs of future generations.

The discussion will center on several key projects: the Guggenheim Helsinki winning proposal (2015); Powerhouse Parramatta in Sydney—one of the world’s most significant upcoming museum projects, set to open in 2026; and the Centre Pompidou in Paris, Europe’s largest modern art museum, slated for reopening in 2030.

Guided by Moreau Kusunoki’s design philosophy—rooted in the Japanese concept of ‘in-between’ or mâ, where fluid, interstitial spaces allow life and meaning to emerge naturally between defined structures—their architectural approach fosters freedom of appropriation, encourages human interaction, and prioritizes the physical experience, all while maintaining adaptability.

About Powerhouse Parramatta

Powerhouse Parramatta was unanimously selected as the winning proposal in the international design competition organized by MAAS and the State of New South Wales in 2019, among 74 teams and 529 individual firms.The project is being developed by an international team that includes Genton (local architect, Sydney), Arup (structure, MEP, façade, acoustics, sustainability), McGregor Coxall (landscape), Jun Sato Structural Engineers (exoskeleton concept), DEP (kinetic structure), and L’Observatoire International (architectural lighting).

About Moreau Kusunoki

Moreau Kusunoki is an architectural practice founded in Paris in 2011 by Hiroko Kusunoki and Nicolas Moreau. Their design approach is defined by a fusion of Japanese spatial sensitivity and Western urban thought. This duality is present in every project they undertake. Their architecture oscillates between reason and intuition, generating undefined spaces known as “ma”—areas that provide room for personal interpretation and new meanings to emerge through user interaction. The studio has received international acclaim through numerous competition wins, including the Guggenheim Helsinki proposal, Sciences Po’s new urban campus in Paris, the National Lighthouse Museum in Brest, and Powerhouse Parramatta. In 2024, they were appointed to lead the cultural renovation of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, a project scheduled for completion in 2030.