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Kengo Kuma and Associates creates wooden forest on the ceiling of a community library in Japan

Japan Architecture News - Dec 13, 2018 - 06:45   29205 views

Kengo Kuma and Associates creates wooden forest on the ceiling of a community library in Japan

Japanese architect Kengo Kuma's firm Kengo Kuma and Associates has completed a community library and welfare center in Yusuhara Town, Takaoka County, Kochi, Japan. 

Named Yusuhara Community Library / YURURI Yusuhara, the building houses a library and welfare facilities using mainly cedar, which was sourced from the town.

Kengo Kuma and Associates creates wooden forest on the ceiling of a community library in Japan

Located in Yusuhara, a town on the border of Kochi and Ehime, is often described as a "village above the clouds". With a sports facility and daycare center across the lawn, the site has become the heart of the town, promoting exchange and communication between generations of locals. 

Kengo Kuma and Associates creates wooden forest on the ceiling of a community library in Japan

The architect, well known with the use of wood and local sources in his projects, combined steel and wood material in a new structural composition which were hanged from the ceiling of the space. The structural wooden pattern is perceived from the facade as a strong architectural element and distinguished language that is given to the building.

Kengo Kuma and Associates creates wooden forest on the ceiling of a community library in Japan

"We assembled the structure mixing steel and cedar, expressing a forest with sunlight filtering through the leaves," said Kengo Kuma and Associates.

"We also created an undulating ground rather than a large flat floor, and the raised ground can be used as a stage for events such as lectures or concerts."

Kengo Kuma and Associates creates wooden forest on the ceiling of a community library in Japan

In the library, visitors takes their shoes off feeling the warmth of the cedar floor, and reading books anywhere in the space.

Kengo Kuma and Associates creates wooden forest on the ceiling of a community library in Japan

At the welfare center facing the library, Rogier Uitenboogaart, developed a washi mixed with bark of Yusuhara trees. It’s applied on the walls of the welfare facility producing a comfortable and warm space.

Kengo Kuma and Associates creates wooden forest on the ceiling of a community library in Japan

Kengo Kuma and Associates creates wooden forest on the ceiling of a community library in Japan

Project facts

Project name: Yusuhara Community Library / Yusuhara Town Welfare Center

Architect: Kengo Kuma and Associates

Location: Yusuhara Town, Takaoka County, Kochi, Japan

Date: 2018.02

Size: 1938.31 m2 / 2758.6m2

All images © Kawasumi/Kobayashi Kenji Photograph Office

> via Kengo Kuma and Associates