Sou Fujimoto will close the opening week of the first International Architecture Biennial, 'MUGAK'

2017 August 7

• The prestigious Japanese architect, Sou Fujimoto, will give a talk on the 10th of November as the grand finalé of the first week of the exhibition.

• San Sebastian will host the event during November, December and January. It will open its doors on the 7th of November.

The renowned Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto will be the star of the closing talk on the opening week of the I International Architecture Biennial 'MUGAK'. The lecture by Fujimoto, which will take place on Friday the 10th of November, will be one of the highlights of this first architecture event. MUGAK will be held in San Sebastian from the 7th of November, and will continue with different activities scheduled until the end of January. Entry to all the exhibitions, talks and round tables will be free.

The prestigious Japanese architect set up his own studio, Sou Fujimoto Architects, in Tokyo in 2000, when he was just 29 years old.  Soon afterwards, he received the Architectural Review Award for Emerging Architects three years in a row and began to be awarded all manner of prizes and to produce impressive creations. Nowadays, he has become one of the most prominent architects worldwide.

During his career, he has given us works such as House N (Oita, Tokyo, 2008), Final Wooden House, (Kumamoto, Kyushu Island, Japan, 2008), the Itabashi-ku apartments (Tokyo, 2010) or the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion (Hyde Park, London, 2013). All these creations reflect Fujimoto's style and interpretation of architecture. He is known for his light structures and permeable enclosures, for mimicking nature in his architecture and blending the natural and the artificial. In short, for trying to diffuse borders and create new spaces.

The international focus of 'MUGAK'

On the 7th of July this year, the Minister for the Environment, Land Planning and Housing, Iñaki Arriola, presented the I International Architecture Biennial to be held in the Basque Country, accompanied by its curator, the San Sebastian architect, Pedro Astigarraga. Both highlighted that its international and multidisciplinary focus intends to position San Sebastian and the Basque Country as a reference and meeting point for architecture and culture professionals and the public at large. This means that San Sebastian and the Miramar Palace, the main venue for the MUGAK events, will be in the spotlight this autumn.

With the aim of achieving these objectives, the programme will include more than fifty events, with exhibitions, talks, workshops, round tables and spaces for different audiences. One of the most outstanding Biennial events will star the RCR Arquitectes studio, winner of this year's Pritzker Prize, the highest award for architecture in the world. The RCR partners will come to San Sebastian with their exhibition, entitled "Shared Creativity", which reviews the evolution of their work and their particular view of their profession. They will also participate in the opening conference.

MUGAK is born with the momentum provided by the Department for the Environment, Land Planning and Housing and public-private partnerships with other administrations and cultural and architectural institutions. Amongst the entities that are collaborating we can find the San Sebastian City Council, the Gipuzkoa Regional Council, the University of the Basque Country through the Higher Technical School of Architecture, the Professional Association of Basque-Navarre Architects and Tabakalera. Also involved are Atari (the Basque Country Architecture Culture Association, the Civic Association Ancora, the Reflex Space, the Peña Ganchegui Archive, the Habic Cluster and the Rezola Cement Museum.