SunnyHills at Minami-Aoyama
Kengo Kuma & Associates · Tokyo, Japan · 2013
SunnyHills turns a small confectionery shop into a three-dimensional timber lattice assembled with a traditional Japanese jointing logic. The dense wooden screen is both structure and atmosphere, filtering views and daylight while giving the compact building a surprisingly porous presence in its residential street. It is one of Kengo Kuma's clearest demonstrations of using repetitive small elements to dissolve the idea of a conventional facade.