Gallery

Description

One of the biggest tasks in this project was to integrate three entirely different volumes in the program– “big box”, “small box” and “something linear” – into a common identity. One of the elements is the “box”, which is also a roof. The other is an architecture ‘made’ of, but not ‘covered with’ natural material, in this case is wood. In the main hall, which composes the largest volume, the wall on both sides was inflected at the top to be transformed in to a roof. Under it, the structural void space was solved with thin pillars and small boxes of glass, rather than with more “solid” surfaces, in sort to emphasize the effect of ‘roof’ absence, beyond its functional dual role.
As for the ‘made of wood’ aspect, it does not necessarily mean using lots of wood for the exterior and interior of this large building. Trees are naturally much smaller than buildings, so there is a huge gap of scale between trees and the volume of this architecture, making it difficult to achieve the idea of ‘made of wood’. To achieve this goal, special wooden panels were created, covering the scale gap between trees and the building. The size and the positioning of the windows are directly linked to the composition of the panels, contributing to transmit the feel of a whole architecture, virtually made of elements, such as openings, panels and other units.

Biography

Kengo Kuma was born in Kanagawa, Japan in 1954. He completed his master’s degree at the University of Tokyo in 1979. From 1985 to 1986, he studied at Columbia University as Visiting Scholar. He established Kengo Kuma & Associates in 1990 in Aoyama, Tokyo. From 2001 to 2008 he taught at the Faculty of Science and Technology at Keio University. In 2009 he was instated as professor of the University of Tokyo.

Among Kuma’s major works are the Kirosan Observatory, the Toyoma Center for Performance Arts, the Stone Museum, and the Bato-machi Hiroshige Museum. Recent works include Great Bamboo Wall, Nagasaki Prefectural Museum, Suntory Museum of Art, and Nezu Museum. A number of large-scale projects are now going on in Europe and China.

Kengo Kuma received several international awards: in 1995, the AIA Benedictus Award, in 1997 the Architectural Institute of Japan Annual Award, in 2000 the International Stone Architecture Award, in 2001 the Murano Prize, in 2002 the Finish International Spirit of Nature Wood Architecture Award, in 2007 the International Architecture Awards for the Best New Global Design and finally in 2008, an Energy Performance + Architecture Award.