Timber of different lengths, clear corrugated boards, and a sturdy metal frame supporting the triangular roof – These three simple materials are combined to create The Field, an event space that melts into the natural landscape.
These three buildings – The Workshop, The Table, and The Field – were designed by internationally renowned architect Kengo Kuma. The Field, in particular, was designed to stand as the connection between Healthian-wood and the Tateyama mountains. Knowing that makes the building’s asymmetrical timberwork look like the ripple of ears of rice in the fall, or the rugged rock face of the Tateyama Mountains.
Up to now, they have held events like weddings and concerts here.
“The bride walks down a white-carpeted aisle between rows of lavender with her father on her arm. She smiles with genuine joy as her friends greet her with applause. As her father watches on, standing among the lavender fields, he sheds a private tear.”
The Field’s guests have shared such stories with the staff. No doubt this place can bring forth any scene you could imagine.
How did they end up asking Kengo Kuma to take on the design of Healthian-wood?
In actual fact, around the same time, the district of Shiraiwa in Tateyama was secretly in the process of planning a sake brewery. It was part of a project to create a worldwide brand of sake managed by the former chief executive brewer of Dom Pérignon. Assisting was Ryuichiro Masuda from the famous Toyama brewery, Masuda Brewing Co.
One day, Masuda received a call from Maeda. After hearing about the project Maeda was working on, Masuda strongly identified with the concept behind Healthian-wood, and therefore introduced Maeda to Kengo Kuma, who was designing the new brewery.
You may only know of Kuma’s larger works, like the Japan National Stadium, which held many events of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. However, his main interest is in designing smaller buildings. His architectural style is to reconstruct buildings by hand following the changing of the times.
“Healthian-wood’s style of being dotted with small buildings is the model of how I’d like to design buildings throughout the world going forward,” Kuma said of the village.
Since the buildings were finished, Kuma has visited Healthian-wood numerous times. As he looked upon the buildings he designed himself, he once nodded and said, “They look like they’ve melted into the scenery.”