The encounter we are referring to takes place in the prominent United Nations University Headquarters, designed by Kenzo Tange in 1992. The building sets back from the busy Aoyama street in central Tokyo, to open a plaza which acts as a good paradigm of public space within the city, used during weekends as a farmer's market. From mid-November the plaza has also become the temporary host of a series of small pavilions designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates, with the intriguing name of Wisdom Tea House. The installation introduces a reinterpretation of Japanese wooden construction and also resonates with the democratic spirit that Tange once envisioned for his creation.
The idea of Tea Houses is recurrent in Kuma's most recent projects. In general, its origins can be tracked in Kamo no Chomei's Hojoki ["An account of My Hut"], which professed individual renunciation of the world and reclusion in a small hut as a result of several disasters that took place in Japan during the 13th century. From Kuma's several studies on what he labels "contemporary tea houses", however, it becomes clear that his interpretation is not about individual isolation, but the tea house has become a social mechanism of connection in recent moments of disaster. The wisdom behind Tange and Kuma might lie in the correct use of materials and their introduction in the right historical moment. Ultimately, Kuma is restating today a cycle of ancient knowledge, which was interrupted in the last fifty years by unquestioned belief in technological advancements.
Kengo Kuma: Tange represents the era after the Second World War. We call him "champion of the 1st generation architects". Fumihiko Maki and Kisho Kurokawa are the 2nd generation. Tadao Ando and Toyo Ito are the 3rd generation. With Kazuyo Sejima, we are the 4th generation. Tange's response to an almost destroyed city after the war was to create strong and beautiful concrete monuments. Indeed, it was something fundamentally necessary after the war. The March 2011 Earthquake taught us an important lesson: concrete buildingsare not strong enough when faced with nature's strength. Thus, I think, our role is to find a solution to the city, which is remarkably different from Tange's.
The wisdom of Japanese tradition determines the selection of the building's location carefully, based on the knowledge of older people. Before, the Japanese never built close to the ocean in tsunami areas, as the ancestors had told them the danger of these places. This is wisdom of our society. Before WWII we had this kind of wisdom, but we lost it. After the war, industrialization gave us a different knowledge, of strong concrete structures that can be built anywhere in the world. Therefore the location of the Wisdom Tea House is very important as it is sits precisely in front of Kenzo Tange's building. This project seeks from this project is to define the wisdom of Japanese tradition and advocate a different kind of strength.
I would like to show a new kind of monumentality as well. Concrete and steel construction technology were introduced in Japan by the Western countries. Traditionally, the Japanese value sensibility to textures and materials of natural sources. I believe that in this way we still can create a monumental building. This kind of monumentality is different from Tange's, as it is softer and milder, broken down to smaller parts. Even composing from small, thin elements, we can create strength. This is another lesson from our monument.
Concrete, on the other hand, allow us to forget the limits and we can misunderstand the sense of scale. We think that we can do anything. Concrete makes us arrogant; wood makes us humble as designers. This is a big difference
Wisdom Tea House is a structural evolution from two previous projects — the Prostho Museum Research Centre in Kasugai and the Starbucks Coffee in Dazaifu-Tenmangu. The difference from those two is the joint system we use in this installation. For the Starbucks Coffee project we used a very special joint (wooden poles assembled diagonally, slightly shifting intersections to avoid four sticks to connect at one point). The Chidori joint (three poles intersect at one point by making special notches in the wood) is aesthetically beautiful; but structurally, it is not a rational system. The Chidori joint is tricky and very difficult to assemble. Probably, only a very limited number of carpenters can deal with it.
The joint system of the Wisdom Tea House is very simple and conventional. Only two elements are connected together at one point. Structurally, it is more reasonable. Before WWII, every Japanese carpenter was using this kind of joint. The system of the Wisdom Tea House can be called an open one. Even today, every Japanese carpenter with a little training can do this kind of joint and monument. I want to open this system to everybody again.
Tange understood the importance of Japanese tradition. For some buildings, as the Kagawa Prefectural Government Hall, he used a composition of two kinds of elements, vertical and horizontal, based on the traditional Japanese wooden construction system. However, the dimensions of this concrete structure do not fit the scale of the human body comfortably. Hiroshi Hara, on the contrary, wanted to go back to the small scale. Hara taught me the importance of smallness. However, he was not interested in using a traditional system of wooden elements. This is a difference between Hara and me. Tange, Hara and I have had some kind of progression in our approaches of going back to wisdom.
The 3 metre limit restrains the dimensions of the building — ceiling height and spanning. It is a natural modular coordination, fitting the scale of the human body. Concrete, on the other hand, allow us to forget the limits and we can misunderstand the sense of scale. We think that we can do anything. Concrete makes us arrogant; wood makes us humble as designers. This is a big difference.
I would like to revigorate the network of people by using local and natural materials. In the 20th century every material came from factories in Tokyo. Concrete, as a material, came from Tokyo. Somehow we have forgotten that the north area of Tohoku is rich in forests. We have abandoned this resource, thus the conditions of forests have worsened. The use of local wooden materials in construction can contribute to the reactivation of the small economies and also to recover the conditions of the forests. This is another lesson from this project, to connect architecture and people.
Regarding the program of this project as a public space, you have divided it into three interdependent elements; there is a "monument", a place for activities, and finally an area for services. What brought you to design under such strategy?
To divide a building in parts is very important. In the 20th century we tended to make a building as big as possible. In the 21st century small sub-elements work together, creating some kind of flexible and comfortable network for us. It is the ideal solution for a building of the 21st century.
Kengo Kuma & Associates: Wisdom Tea House
Design: Kengo Kuma & Associates
Location: United Nations University Centre, Shibuya, Tokyo
Structure: Wooden construction
Main use: Temporary installation
Completion date: November 2012
The authors would like to thank architect Kengo Kuma for his generous time for the interview, and Shin Ohba and Kai Araki from Kengo Kuma & Associates for providing the necessary materials and information. Special thanks goes to Salvator John A. Liotta for his kind support.
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