What’s next for Kengo Kuma and Associates?
What’s next for Kengo Kuma and Associates?
Based in Tokyo and Paris, Kengo Kuma and Associates is known for its large-scale timber architecture inspired by Japanese construction techniques and styles – the stadium for Tokyo’s 2020 Olympic games is an example of the lengths and widths to which the studio has pushed the material. A Kengo Kuma building is humble, holistic and often inspired by nature. While known for his work across Japan, Kuma will complete the V&A in Dundee this September and is also highly active on the French architecture scene. The Maritime History Museum of Saint-Malo, the Musée Albert Kahn and the Gare Saint-Denis Pleyel are three projects under construction and on the rise in France...
Project: Maritime History Museum of Saint-Malo
Location: Saint-Malo, France
Status: ongoing, scheduled completion 2022
Kengo Kuma & Associates won first prize in the international competition to design the Maritime History Museum of Saint-Malo, a museum that will focus on local city history. The architecture of the museum responds to the naval and industrial traditions of Saint-Malo. The three-part stacked structure overlooks the nearby Duguay-Trouin dock and is surrounded by seascape.
Image courtesy of Lautre Image. Writer: Nurit Chinn.
Project: Maritime History Museum of Saint-Malo
Location: Saint-Malo, France
Status: ongoing, scheduled completion 2022
Due to complete in 2022, Kengo Kuma’s museum appears as a ship on the side of the horizon. The dynamic elevation of the structure and strong cantilevers give the building an illusion of movement. The museum functions as both a marker, a destination, and a means to connect the historical city with the new districts. Its lightness and transparency almost renders it a part of the environment, as well as a place of attraction.
Image courtesy of Lautre Image. Writer: Nurit Chinn.
Project: Maritime History Museum of Saint-Malo
Location: Saint-Malo, France
Status: ongoing, scheduled completion 2022
The interior of the museum features warm, open woodwork, again evoking naval architecture with the use of structural tinder. Integral to Kengo Kuma & Associates’ vision is creating a unique museum experience from the inside of the museum outwards. A panoramic view of the city is visible from within the exhibition spaces – described by the architects as a ‘belvedere museum’. The offsetting three level structure of the museum ensures that viewers will have a different perception of the city from wherever they stand.
Image courtesy of Lautre Image. Writer: Nurit Chinn.
Project: Musée Albert Kahn
Location: Paris, France
Status: under construction, scheduled completion 2019
As part of a refurbishment and extension at the Musée Albert Kahn, Kengo Kuma & Associates is adding a new gallery space to the photography-based museum. Albert Khan was particularly interested in Japan and other Asian regions, and so Kuma & Associates has designed a three-storey pavilion that blends the new build with the pre-existing Japanese garden.
Writer: Luke Halls
Project: Musée Albert Kahn
Location: Paris, France
Status: under construction, scheduled completion 2019
The paths through the garden linearly interact with the new gallery space, connecting the pieces on show to the surrounding natural landscape. An aluminium-and-wood frame is inserted between the pathways and garden space, subtly controlling the relationship between the two.
Writer: Luke Halls
Project: Musée Albert Kahn
Location: Paris, France
Status: under construction, scheduled completion 2019
The building’s street elevation facade is made of aluminium, whereas at the rear it is made from wood. The two materials are interspersed and interwoven gradually across the extension – a seemingly biological skin adapting and interacting with the urban and natural environments across the new site.
Writer: Luke Halls
Project: Gare Saint-Denis Pleyel
Location: Paris, France
Status: Ongoing
In 2015, Kengo Kuma & Associates won the competition to design the new Gare Saint-Denis Playel, one of three new stations joining the expanding Paris Metro system. The site is positioned to increase metropolitan flow considerably, opening up the district by acting as a point of connection for the two northern sides of the city.
Writer: Luke Halls
Project: Gare Saint-Denis Pleyel
Location: Paris, France
Status: Ongoing
The project consists of 45,000 sq m of space, spread out over nine storeys, four of which are underground. The core station space will be joined by a scattering of new shops, a multimedia library and co-working space, extending the station’s use as a community hub beyond its core functionality.
Writer: Luke Halls
Project: Gare Saint-Denis Pleyel
Location: Paris, France
Status: Ongoing
Visualising its new role, the steel frames found throughout the site evoke rail tracks, emphasising the passage of time and history. A new public plaza will accompany the station, embedding it within the urban Parisian backdrop as a new cultural hotspot.
Writer: Luke Halls