154 : Museum and Research Centre : Kengo Kuma Kengo Kuma : Museum and Research Centre : 155

forest
fantasy


 Kengo Kuma constructed





Using 6000 sticks of cypress wood,






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'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
Kengo Kuma : Museum and Research Centre : 157
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 Second floor. The installation rises from entrance level to top floor,
enormous models of prosthetic teeth. where the peak of the 9-m-high structure is clearly visible.

The installation is like a forest of deciduous GC Prostho Museum

Research Center
trees, with sunshine filtering through Occupying the first floor are workplaces for
Design Kengo Kuma (kkaa.co.jp)
Kengo Kuma employees of the GC Research Center.
Location Aichi, Japan
Area 626,5 m
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
The wooden structure rises within a void that Kengo Completion 2010
Kuma designed to draw natural light deep into the
building, all the way to the basement level.

Basement. First floor.