Japanese people have preferred lighter elements like woods over stones and heavier materials during most historical periods. Japanese architecture is famous for its wooden designs and its thatched roofs. Now, Tokyo University’s professor, Kengo Kuma, has designed a polyhedron-shaped structure with stones covering its multidimensional granite façade. The building has inside it a garden, an art gallery, a café, and two museums.

Who is Kengo Kuma?

The professor of architecture at Tokyo’s University has run experiments on different materials and architecture designs. He famously manipulates the natural and light elements by using various materials in his built structures. This trick is not in contradiction with the Japanese values of structuring. However, he does not only go by light materials such as wood and clay. Kuma boldly uses stones like granite whence he sees fit. He finds new uses for the already present substances and is not afraid to experiment.

Kengo Kuma is reportedly well familiar with the usages of various materials. He is well-known for his correct use of different constituents in his designs. In designing the Kadokawa Culture Museum, he has chosen granite over all the available stones and construction materials. This fact is eye-opening for those who have not yet considered having a granite façade on their buildings.

A granite façade in a multidimensional structure

Architects and builders have long used Granite slabs in chunks as building facades. What is extraordinary about this particular structure is its polyhedron shape. Many might think the task is impracticable. To this architect, everything comes in with a solution. The façade bends and shapes different angles forming an irregular configuration. The pixelated look is similar to the rough texture of nature and its natural stones.

The structure imitates a small and naturally formed rocky hill. The inside looks emptied, and the entrance is itself a work of art and a replica of nature. Granite helps convey this feeling of naturalism quite convincingly.

What is on each floor in this five-story building?

This museum is a part of a larger complex called the Tokorozawa Sakura Town complex. The Tokorozawa Sakura Town complex location is in west Tokyo.

Each level offers some services. The fourth floor is a two-floor library transformable to a bookshelf theater.

The ground floor also is home to a smaller library. This floor has a 1,000 square meter space for a gallery, too. The gallery is to present different shows of nature, science, fashion, etc.

Next, the second floor has refreshment facilities like a café and a shopping center. The third floor is, unsurprisingly, dedicated to anime presentation.

Behsang Stone Nehbandan Granite is ready for your imagination to be the other person who makes another fabulous facade in your city.