Architecture studio Kengo Kuma and Associates has built a pavilion with a textile roof supported by bamboo stalks on the grounds of a temple in Kyoto, Japan.
Named Kyoto Yudo Pavilion, the structure designed by Kengo Kuma and Associates was built in a bamboo grove within the temple site.
Kengo Kuma and Associates designed the Kyoto Yudo Pavilion for a temple in Japan
The studio used Tyvek, a synthetic fabric made from polyethene fibres, to weave a geometric pattern of diamonds that is supported by the living bamboo.
"When I saw the beautiful bamboo forest, I wondered if I could use the bamboo as a pillar," said Kengo Kuma and Associates founder Kengo Kuma.
"By leaving as much of the living bamboo as possible and using it as a support, I was able to eliminate the vertical element," he told Dezeen. "By weaving the Tyvek into three dimensions, I transformed a simple flat surface into a three-dimensional work of art."
It stretches across an outdoor spa area
The fabric was tied to the bamboo stalks that surround the opening in the grove while an outdoor bath was placed at the centre of the clearing to form a spa-like area.
Inside the Kyoto Yudo Pavilion dappled light filters through the grove and the white oscillating fabric.
"The material was selected because it was the closest to Japanese paper, which transmits light, in a material that combines water resistance, tensile strength, and light weight," said Kuma.

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