Designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates, Portland Japanese Garden‘s new Cultural Village is a modest, human-scaled set of buildings arranged around a courtyard plaza, whose fourth side is the existing, untouched gardens from the 1960s. The project is a village positioned along a journey from the city to the top of the hill, a form of modern monzenmachi wherein the pilgrimage pays homage to the spirit of nature.
Photography: Jeremy Bittermann
There are four buildings, each with its own means of merging into the dramatic slopes of the terrain, in combination with the tall vertical lines of the Pacific Northwest conifers: the Ticketing Pavilion floating above gently stepped ponds, the Tea Cafe hovering above the ravine, and the main Village House and Garden House.
Photography: Jeremy Bittermann Although the architecture is deferential to the landscape, the key device is the zigzagging roof?creating deep overhangs of soft metal and lush vegetation, and a porous boundary to encourage a direct relationship with the renowned Portland rain, and its temperamental sun?in a soft, indeterminate, and flexible border.

In collaboration with Sadafumi Uchiyama (landscape design), Hacker Architects, Walker Macy.
First Floor Plan
Project Info:

Architects: Kengo Kuma & Associates

Location: Portland, OR, United States

Design Team: Kengo Kuma, Balazs Bognar

Architect of Record: Hacker Architects

Area: 1431.0 m2

Project Year: 2017

Photographs: Jeremy Bittermann

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