#48 June 8, 2022
I travelled overseas for the first time in two and a half years. After visiting architecture designed by Junzo Yoshimura in New York that is surrounded by greenery, I flew to San Francisco, spent three days in Japan, and then went to five countries in Europe. This tight travel schedule was the result of consultation and site visit requests.
The two and a half years of the Coronavirus pandemic created a new lifestyle rhythm tailored to the limited territorial constrains of Japan. This provided me with the opportunity to experience a number of new locations ranging from Hokkaido to Okinawa where you can directly feel and touch the wonder of nature, as well as a chance to reexamine myself. I made a conscious effort even in Tokyo to take walks, and feel that I was able to transform myself somewhat into an awareness that resembles a hunter-gatherer mentality.
I was slightly concerned how my transformation into a bit of a wild person that had returned to a lifestyle resembling a hunter-gatherer would cope with taking airline flights. I think that the decision to take a lot of walks in the local area helped restore my body’s balance. In addition to walking briskly to work up a sweat in wild areas that resembled wilderness, I took walks as much as possible in the cities I visited. For some reason, I am often given sites that are in the “wild”. I intuitively feel that the Coronavirus pandemic has made people all around the world to want to get out into nature. I decided to think about things while walking rather than just stay at home. Taking brisk walks may enable us to skillfully combine the hunter-gatherer sensibilities nurtured during the pandemic with the airplane that gives people bird-like abilities.
ProjectsYokohama International School New Campus Project
We designed a “wooden house” for the new campus of the world’s second oldest international school. By connecting classrooms and sports facilities with open hubs, we created a fluid living room-like environment in between classrooms, avoiding closed corridors as much as possible. In the center of the facilities, an atrium filled with daylight serves as an inner courtyard. Within the atrium, a symbolic staircase, “Lily Pads,” functions as a multifunctional open space, to hold classes and performances. The façade is divided with tilted wooden panels integrated with planters, to create a soft and human-scale “wooden house”. On the rooftop, a Japanese-style room and garden looks down to the harbor, a space that embodies the school’s respect for diversity and Japanese culture. Desigh:Kengo Kuma and Associates, TAISEI DESIGN Planners Architects & Engineers Read MoreProjectsKusatsu Kimuraya
In the famous Kusatsu Onsen (hot spring) in Gunma Prefecture, we designed a one-room ryokan. On the first floor, the restaurant directly faces the famous hot spring fields. By using Asama stone found in hot springs on the exterior walls, we connected building and landscape into a three-dimensional landscape. To further harmonize with the landscape, curve geometries that resonate with the soft movement of steam rising from the hot springs govern how we arranged the use of local materials. In the interior, local materials such as Asama stone terrazzo, Japanese washi paper mixed with crushed local stones are present. The wet areas use tile materials that are typically used for the floor of the hot spring fields. By incorporating material and geometrical elements of Yubatake hot springs throughout the building, we condensed the materiality of the historic town of Kusatsu in this small building. Read MoreProjectsShizuku Shizuku-Kohroh
The "Shizuku Shizuku" brand was launched by Kengo Kuma and his team with the aim of communicating Japan's ancient aesthetic and lifestyle to the world. As the first work, "Kohroh" will be exhibited at Art Fair Tokyo 2022 in Tokyo from 10th to 13th March, and will be auctioned afterwards. Now that the Corona disaster has deprived us of various freedoms, we have rediscovered the importance of fragrances that give color to beautiful memories and comfort to our hearts, and have created five scents inspired by five different places in Japan (Tokyo, Kyoto, Karuizawa, Mt.Fuji, Okinawa) . For more information about the "Shizuku Shizuku Kohroh", please visit the special website. szkszk.com Read More