Today, Kōkei is best known for leading teams involved in the 1188–1189 reconstruction of the Tōdai-ji and Kōfuku-ji, temples in Nara, Japan. He and his assistants were placed in charge of work at the Nanendō (Southern Octagonal Hall). Statues by Kōkei there include the Four Heavenly Guardians and the Six Patriarchs of Hossō. The centerpiece is the giant Fukūkenjaku Kannon, which he created in 1188. This was a replacement for an original created in 746 and lost in a temple fire.