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TA: There were three big trees and another one here and I tried to preserve them as they were when I built this church.

Now the tree has grown and covers the building. It's not only in Japanese architecture, but nature and architecture have become one here.

When the church was built 20 years ago, those trees were still so short... but now they're matching nicely with the building. I always match the natural elements with something artificial.

AR: Why is nature such an important facet of your work?

TA: We're living on the earth, but now nature is being destroyed by humans. The influence of humans is getting bigger and bigger in this world, there should be a harmony between the artificial world, the natural environment, and human beings. Otherwise, our life won't be sustained. So, with this big tree, we're trying to express an impression that we're living on the earth and at the same time co-existing with nature. When you get inside the church, you see the light and you're able to sense that this church also exists with nature. So through this church, people can realize that they're living within nature.

I built this church hoping that it can be a place where people can come to gather to unite themselves as one, to think about life, to remember that they live together with nature, and to feel happiness sharing the experience with other people.

AR: The preservation of nature is very important to you and you can certainly see that in your use of natural materials in your work. But we do live in an increasingly industrial, increasingly resource-hungry world. Do you sometimes feel like it's a bit of a pointless battle?

TA: If we face reality, the population on the earth is increasing. It was 1 billion in 1900, now it's 6.6 billion, and it could soon be 10 billion people living on this earth. That means we have 10 times more people on the earth and we need more houses and buildings. We must think about how long the materials for buildings and houses will last with all this development. Otherwise the earth could be destroyed.

AR: You look to the U.S. it would seem for much of the blame for the environmental situation now. What's your particular issue with the way that America is operating?

TA: I'm not blaming everything on the U.S. However, one good example could be the Kyoto Protocol that the U.S. has not ratified. I presume that America gives more priority to economic growth than to the environment. I believe that a sound environment is a prerequisite for economic growth.

AR: So let's just talk about some of your future projects then. Tokyo is in the running to host the 2016 Olympics, and you've been tapped to oversee the architectural side of it. It's an enormous task; why is it worth it to you?

TA: Basically, major cities in Asia, in Japan, China or South Korea, have been built in admiration of Western cities like Paris or London. Thinking about it, however, cities in Japan or Asia are different from those in Europe, particularly in climate and culture. So I thought about exploring the possibility of building an Asian city or buildings which have the style of the west, but suitable to Asian climate and culture.

So what I came up with was a big forest over Tokyo Bay -- a forest on the sea. There's reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay and I wanted to create a forest there. Starting with this project, I'd like the people in Japan to recall the importance of nature. And the same time, I'd like to change the way of thinking among Japanese people by trying to create a forest connecting the Imperial Palace and the ministerial district to Omotesando. I'm expecting that it would create a breeze running through the forest. This would make Tokyo a unique city with distinctly Asian features. There's also an earthquake factor too. We'll build facilities to help us defend ourselves from earthquakes.

AR: In the past you've lectured in architecture at both Yale and Harvard, just to name a couple. What are your thoughts on tomorrow's architects? Do you trust them to uphold the artistry and the functionality, and also the environmental preservation that you have tried to promote?

TA: It's the computer era. The computer creates an image -- another environment -- which is different from our real world. In this real world, we have real trees, water, everything. The real world and computer world are different things. However, today's young students have learned about the world through computers. What they need to do now is go out to the real world and experience it in order to create architecture that's rooted in reality. I think it's very difficult.

AR: In which case, do you then foresee the demise of the world's great architectural projects?

TA: You can never know about that for sure. The computer can create a completely different world. And so architecture of the future will be very different because of that. In the last 10 years, everything has changed so rapidly, so the field of architecture can create something completely different from what we have -- we'll become the architects of the past.