Kengo Kuma sunglasses: wearable architecture?
The renowned Japanese architect has teamed up with eyewear brand Vava on a capsule collection incorporating sustainable, organic materials and the latest in 3D-printing technology
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

The architectural and optical worlds may not be the most obvious of natural bedfellows, but over time their creative identities have become intertwined. Perhaps the most famous glasses style synonymous with the architectural profession was that sported by Le Corbusier: circular, thickly rimmed and crafted in opaque black acetate. IM Pei also favoured the full moon silhouette, and British architect Peter Cook sports a neon blue circular style of spectacles today. Scroll through websites of leading opticals brands, and you'll likely find a style titled ‘The Architect’.
Materiality, structure, utility: similar themes run between the fields of spatial design and opticals. Now, leading Japanese architect Kengo Kuma has set about firmly uniting the two. Kuma, who is renowned for his organic and holistic approach to construction and has had his architectural cannon drawn out in a new illustrated book by Hiroshi Miyazawa, has teamed up with Portuguese eyewear brand Vava, on a capsule sunglasses collection. Vava itself references the Bauhaus and minimalism as long-term influences, and views its silhouettes in relation to facial architecture: ‘Framed as buildings, our eyewear uses the face as a landscape.'
Kengo Kuma sunglasses are wearable structures
‘CL0013’, part of a capsule collection by Kengo Kuma for Vava
The capsule collection is composed of two 3D-printed styles, crafted using a high-quality polyamide bio-based powder, made from castor oil. The style ‘CL0013’, with a criss-crossing geometric shape, is inspired by traditional Japanese building techniques, which Kuma often alludes to in his designs, incorporating latticed or woven structures, and working in wood and bamboo.
The curving, interlaced framed of the ‘CL0015’ style’s silhouette, meanwhile, nods to weaving as a building form, a microcosmic take on Kuma's architectural aesthetic.
Both frames are available in a range of prismatic colours, including ‘Aqua Haze' and ‘Mellow Yellow'.
Le Corbusier, IM Pei… it's time to induct Kengo Kuma into the architecture-meets-optometry hall of fame. Now eyewear doesn't just allude to the style of architects, it's designed by them too.
INFORMATION
-
‘A crossover of ideas and emotion’: Simone Rocha on introducing menswear to her label
As the collection arrives at London’s Dover Street Market with a special installation and zine, Simone Rocha speaks about the roots of the menswear offering, the art of collaboration, and a campaign which subverts ‘the archetypes of masculinity’
By Jack Moss • Published
-
Colour Clash is a bold compendium of dazzling supergraphics and logos that pop
Polychromatic perversity in graphic design is celebrated in Colour Clash, a monograph that looks at the new wave of visual expression
By Jonathan Bell • Published
-
Beacon House is the contemporary rebirth of a midcentury San Francisco home
Beacon House by Edmonds + Lee Architecture is a renovation project that sensitively brings a modernist San Francisco home into the 21st century
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Salvatore Ferragamo’s new sunglasses give summer an injection of colour
Inspired by the house’s famed 1938 ‘Rainbow Shoe’ and the colourful vigour of 1980s accessories, a new sustainably minded collection of sunglasses from Salvatore Ferragamo is ready for brighter days ahead
By Jack Moss • Last updated
-
Made in Italy eyewear from Brunello Cucinelli and Oliver Peoples
Here are five new eyewear designs to covet as Brunello Cucinelli and Oliver Peoples team up to focus on craftsmanship and heritage
By Hannah Silver • Last updated
-
Warby Parker and Entireworld’s socially conscious sunglasses
These two American brands have teamed up to create a colourful take on Warby Parker’s classic ‘Hatcher’ sunglasses, including a donation to the Equal Justice Initiative
By Pei-Ru Keh • Last updated
-
JW Anderson x Persol: sunglasses to style up the summer heatwave
‘I have always been a fan of Persol,’ says Jonathan Anderson. ‘They are a design classic; I wear them all the time’
By Laura Hawkins • Last updated
-
The 3D-printed biobased opticals inspired by French cinema
Three new sustainable styles draw on the sultry French Riviera setting of Schneider’s 1969 thriller La Piscine
By Dal Chodha • Last updated
-
Morocco-based Marrakshi Life combines traditional techniques with a New York aesthetic
Clothing brand Marrakshi Life champions a unisex, hand-tailored line
By Grace Cook • Last updated
-
Square eyes: CoopDPS designs geometric eyewear for Max Mara
Memphis’ founding members Nathalie Du Pasquier and George Sowden collaborate on a bold and bright Max Mara sunglasses
By Maisie Skidmore • Last updated
-
Marcel Breuer's Bauhaus furniture inspires Neubau sunglasses
By Dal Chodha • Last updated