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154 : Museum and Research Centre : Kengo Kuma

Kengo Kuma : Museum and Research Centre : 155

forest fantasy
  

Using 6000 sticks of cypress wood, Kengo Kuma constructed the GC Prostho Museum Research Center in Aichi an experimental  space devoted to dentures.
Words Cathelijne Nuijsink Photos Daici Ano

      

The gridded structure at the GC Prostho Museum Research Center is based on cidori, a Japanese building set for children.

156 : Museum and Research Centre : Kengo Kuma

Kengo Kuma : Museum and Research Centre : 157

Kengo Kuma's inexhaustible curiosity for experimentation with local materials and innovative constructions has rewarded him with a distinctive position among Japanese architects. The 56-year-old architect is not afraid of the dichotomy that separates the work of his avant-garde and traditional colleagues. Instead of using only modern building materials or sticking rigidly to an authentic Japanese architectural style, Kuma takes an individual yet contemporary approach to his designs, combining materials and structure with his signature flair for innovation. His latest project, the GC Prostho Museum Research Center in Aichi, a city in central Japan, is a first-rate example of what he describes as forgetting about ready-made details in order to carve and cook materials in new and different ways. His source of inspiration? The assembly system of cidori, a traditional Japanese building set for children. Cidori is a collection of wooden sticks that can be notched together to make longer or shorter components. It works without metal hinges or nails. Together with structural engineer Jun Sato and craftsmen from Takayama the region in which cidori originated Kuma applied the principles of the toy building set to

a fully fledged architectural construction. Without using fasteners or adhesives of any kind, they interwove 6000 cypress rods to create a 9-m-high, three-dimensional gridded structure. The wooden lattice provides far more than a cosmetic solution. It functions as a structural device, explains Kuma, who openly expresses his dislike for modern buildings with a cosmetic skin that is merely attached to the surface. The concept of the GC Prostho Museum Research Center, which first appeared as an installation at the 2007 Salone del Mobile in Milan, now serves as a showpiece for GC, a Japanese dental-care company that specializes in dentures and a range of dental prostheses. By altering the diameter and length of the original cidori sticks (Kumas rods measure 60 mm x 60 mm) and adapting the shape of the section to form three types of elements, the architect created a strong structural system consisting of surprisingly thin wooden components. We used a mixed structure, Kuma reveals. A core behind the exhibition hall supports the three-dimensional gridded structure. By inserting glass panels into the wooden frame, we crafted a system that

looks like a transparent wooden lattice running continuously between interior and exterior. Once inside the new facility, visitors are torn between viewing an exhibition on the history of dentures and marvelling at the architecture, which Kuma proudly refers to as a forest of deciduous trees, where you can enjoy sunshine filtering through. His result proves that contemporary architecture can be elegant handiwork. Exemplifying Kuma's strong aversion to architecture that covers the world in concrete and steel, this project made with locally sourced timber according to traditional techniques is the architects attempt to defy machine-made structures. The countless cidori sets assembled in this one building give the place a do-it-yourself feel and suggest that making innovative architecture is child's play.

On the ground floor, the wooden installation serves as a backdrop for GC Prosthos exhibition on the history of dentures.

158 : Museum and Research Centre : Kengo Kuma

Kengo Kuma : Museum and Research Centre : 159

Ground floor.

Among the exhibits on display at entrance level are enormous models of prosthetic teeth.

Second floor.

The installation rises from entrance level to top floor, where the peak of the 9-m-high structure is clearly visible.

The installation is like a forest of deciduous trees, with sunshine filtering through Kengo Kuma

GC Prostho Museum Research Center


Occupying the first floor are workplaces for employees of the GC Research Center.
Design Kengo Kuma (kkaa.co.jp) Location Aichi, Japan Area 626,5 m

The wooden structure rises within a void that Kengo Kuma designed to draw natural light deep into the building, all the way to the basement level.

Cidori lattice Nonflammable cypress Roof Galuvalume Ceilings Plasterboard, unfinished concrete AEP, cidori (Japanese fir), silicate calcium board, nonflammable cement excelsior board, solid cement board Walls Nonflammable cement excelsior board, plasterboard, silicate calcium board, solid cement board Flooring Chemicrete, unfinished concrete AEP, RC Completion 2010

Basement.

First floor.

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