THE MAKING OF NATURALNESS THROUGH KIGUMI ARCHITECTURE

Jun Sato

Sunny Hills in Aoyama Tokyo is a pineapple cake shop jointly designed and developed by Kengo Kuma and Jun Sato. Its structure is based on the centuries-old Japanese wood craft of Kigumi, a timber framework whose elements interlock like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
The complex building composed of thousands of slender wooden slats required only a minimum of steel fasteners. Its differentiated structure acts like an “environmental filter” that creates a Komorebi effect (sunlight through leaves) in the interior.

Jun Sato is a renowned Japanese structural engineer who runs an office in Tokyo and has worked with architects such as Kengo Kuma, Sou Fujimoto, Junya Ishigami, Kazuhiro Kojima and others. He was a visiting professor at Stanford University and has taught at the University of Tokyo focusing on the development of “morphogenetic forms based on geometry, materials, dynamics, craftsmanship, site matters and the spirit of engineering.” He will talk about the design and planning process of Sunny Hills and other buildings that he and Kengo Kuma have developed to explore the Kigumi technique, as well as timber joinery and structural optimization in general.

THE MAKING OF NATURALNESS THROUGH KIGUMI ARCHITECTURE
Lecture