Kengo Kuma is a Japanese architect and is known for combining Japanese architecture with modern construction technologies. His buildings are conceived of highly innovative structures and are highly influenced by natural materials to blend in with their surroundings.
His latest work has all those traits and relies on a single stacked column of boards to support a tree-like cafe overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Some of the architects’ other works include a glowing cold climate house that uses a double skin membrane to promote convection. He was inspired by the Japanese wooden toy Cidori and made a latticed research center based on it. There is an art museum currently under production based on interlocking stacked wooden boxes.
The tree-like cafe sits atop an oceanside cliff-top in Japan’s Shizuoka Prefecture. The design is inspired by a tree and uses a stack of cedar blocks 8cm high and 8 cm wide as a trunk to form the central supporting column. The firm says that these blocks have been arranged randomly.
