Yusuhara Wooden Bridge Museum / Kengo Kuma & Associates

Architects: Kengo Kuma & Associates
Location: 3799-3 Taro-gawa Yusuhara-cho, Takaoka-gun, Kochi Prefecture, Japan
Client: Tomio Yano, Town Mayor of Yusuhara
Site area: 14,736.47 sqm
Completion: 2011
Photographs: Takumi Ota Photography

This is a plan to link two public buildings with a bridge-typed facility, which had been long separated by the road in between. The museum technically bridges communications in this area. It functions not only as a passage between the two facilities but also as an accommodation and workshop, ideal location for artist-in-residence programs. In this project, we challenged a structural system which composes of small parts, referring to cantilever structure often employed in traditional architecture in Japan and China. It is a great example of sustainable design, as you can achieve a big cantilever even without large-sized materials.