Barton Myers, who studied under the leading American architect, Louis Kahn (1901-1974), inspired Kuwabara, and his future partners who were also associates of BMA – Thomas Payne, Marianne McKenna and Shirley Blumberg - to think about the city, and how to integrate strategies of urban infill and consolidation.
In his acceptance speech, Kuwabara offered a personal reflection contrasting the memories of growing up in the post-World War II climate as a Japanese-Canadian with the later inspirations of his mentors and seminal events that determined his vocation as an architect.
His reflections of the collaborative nature of architecture and an overview of his practice is featured in a special supplement published by Canadian Architect in the June 2006 issue, with essays by George Baird and Larry Richards who wrote: "From his collaborative contributions on large urban projects with Barton Myers in the 1970s to his conceptions for complex city fabric insertions during the past decade…, Kuwabara has demonstrated remarkable leadership as an accomplished architect-urbanist with a very particular sense of the design and health of cities.
Manitoba Hydro Place is one of the most energy efficient large-scale office towers in the world and establish a model for extreme climate design in Canada and internationally.
Specifically, Kuwabara helped to establish the Frank Gehry Chair for International Visitors in Architectural Design, as well as to the Faculty's ongoing building renovations.