Kengo Kuma and Ryuichi Sakamoto team up to create architectural building blocks
Where Denmark has Lego, Japan has 'tsumiki'. Meaning 'wooden blocks' in Japanese, Tsumiki is also the name of the new project that has just been launched by internationally acclaimed, Tokyo based architect Kengo Kuma, who is behind this new set of playful wooden blocks for children of all ages.
'I have loved tsumiki my whole life, ever since I was a young boy,' says Kuma. 'And my dream came true, I designed tsumiki myself, the sort which hadn't existed before.' The set is 'not a heavy, masonry kind of wood block, but a light, transparent system just like what you see in traditional Japanese architecture', continues the architect.
Known for his tireless explorations of timber construction, which have resulted in striking wood crafted works such as the Asakusa Culture and Tourism Center and the Daiwa Computing Research Building, Kuma is passionate about the age-old building material. This new foray into scaled wood construction is sure to bring out the child – and the architect – in everyone. Made of Japanese cedar wood, the elements can be combined and stacked to create small buildings and sculptures.
Created in collaboration with musician Ryuichi Sakamoto and his forest conservation organisation More Trees, this architectural game can be used to create structures of all shapes and sizes - as well as raise awareness about the environmental problems caused by the dangerous deforestation on our planet.
INFORMATION
For more information on Kengo Kuma visit the website
Photography: Ikunori Yamamoto
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Cosmoprof 2024: the beauty innovations discovered by Wallpaper*
Cosmoprof invited Wallpaper* to discover the latest innovations in beauty, from tech devices to natural skincare
By Hannah Tindle Published
-
‘The Small Hours’ bathroom collection by Patricia Urquiola for Salvatori is an ode to having time for yourself
Patricia Urquiola's new bathroom collection pushes Salvatori's formal aesthetic with an unprecedented combination of stone and steel
By Cristina Kiran Piotti Published
-
Hermès celebrates the materiality of earth in theatrical Milan Design Week 2024 spectacle
The Topography of Material is Hermès Milan Design Week 2024 display at La Pelota, focused on an installation exploring the materiality of earth and celebrating new and archival objects
By Rosa Bertoli Published
-
Modern Japanese houses inspiring minimalism and avant-garde living
We tour the best Japanese architecture and modern Japanese houses designed by international and local architects that open up possibilities for all types of lifestyle, from minimalist to communal in Japanese architecture.
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
An Aoyama House exemplifies a synergetic architect and client relationship
A client’s faith in his architect pays dividends in Aoyama House; a light-filled, effortlessly elegant Tokyo home
By Jens H Jensen Published
-
Tokyo home Le49Ⅱ brings together drama, domestic luxury and hybrid working habits
Le49Ⅱ by Japanese architects Apollo is a Tokyo home for a young family with hybrid working habits
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Takeshi Ikeuchi’s kei truck is a minimalist Japanese mobile showroom
Takeshi Ikeuchi's kei truck design is a Japanese timber specialist’s minimalist mobile showroom
By Jens H Jensen Published
-
Nekoyacho Bldg is a Hiroshima office on a crossroads of 'food, work and entertainment'
Nekoyacho Bldg has been designed by Suppose Design Office as a 21st century workspace in Hiroshima, Japan
By Danielle Demetriou Published
-
Heatherwick Studio’s Azabudai Hills district launches as Tokyo’s newest city-in-a-city
Tokyo welcomes the Azabudai Hills district, designed by Heatherwick Studio and constructed as a city-in-a-city after over three decades of planning
By Danielle Demetriou Published
-
Toranomon Hills Station by OMA adds dynamism to the Tokyo skyline
Toranomon Hills Station is OMA's first tower in Tokyo - as well as a project expanding and evolving the high rise typology
By Danielle Demetriou Published
-
Terunobu Fujimori’s Kodomari Fuji guest house features a roof lined with cherry trees
Cherry trees line the roof at Kodomari Fuji, Terunobu Fujimori's first accommodation facility design, a private guest house in Japan
By Joanna Kawecki Published