Kayanoya - Kengo Kuma

Kayanoya in Tokyo is latest - perhaps greatest - example of architect's current timber first approach

Renowned Japanese architect Kengo Kuma is a keen user of timber. His pineapple cake shop in Tokyo features old-school Japanese architecture, with intersected slats, and his Starbucks interiors at Dazaifutenmangu Omotesando shrine comprise 2000 stick-like parts. 

Meanwhile, next year, travellers using Tokyo’s Keio Takaosanguchi Station will be treated to a gently curved wooden roof. You can see some of the above projects at his practice page in the wonderful online Phaidon Atlas.

Now, Kuma has continued this timber theme by rolling out the barrels for a soy sauce manufacturer. Kayanoya, which has been in business for more than 120 years, tasked the architect with breathing some new life into its outdated shop in Nihonbashi, a large business district of Tokyo.

Kuma and his team went back to basics for the project, paying a visit to Kayanoya’s warehouse on the island of Kyushu for inspiration. This is a traditional set-up full of cedar barrels and specialised cedar trays which are used in the making of soy sauce....Continue Reading

> via Phaidon