Meiso no Mori Municipal Funeral Hall
Kakamigahara-shi, Gifu, Japan · 2006
A precedent for thin-shell concrete engineering and organic roof forms, demonstrating how a heavy material can be cast into a fluid, cloud-like canopy that integrates with a natural landscape.
- What we like about this project
- The columns taper down to remarkably slender points where they meet the ground, defying the perceived weight of the concrete roof.
Materials
- reinforced-concrete
- glass
- steel
- travertine
Visual identifiers
- undulating-roof
- organic-columns
- glass-facade
- waterfront-pavilion
- concrete-canopy
Style tags
- organic
- structural-expressionism
- japanese-modernism
Visual tags
- organic-modernism
- thin-shell-concrete
- waterfront
- civic-pavilion
- seamless-indoor-outdoor
- Geometry
- An undulating, free-form concrete canopy roof supported by tapered, organic columns that merge seamlessly into the ceiling plane. The building footprint curves gently along the edge of an artificial lake.
- Facade system
- Structural glass curtain wall with minimal steel framing.
- Structural guess
- Reinforced concrete thin-shell structure supported by cast-in-place tapered columns.
- Spatial scale
- A single-story pavilion with a monumental, sweeping roofline that scales down to human height at its lowest dips.
- Lighting
- Overcast, diffused daylight with warm interior uplighting that accentuates the underside of the white undulating concrete canopy.
- Atmosphere
- Serene, quiet, and weightless, with the white canopy appearing to float like a cloud above the glass walls.
- Environmental context
- Situated on a grassy bank adjacent to a calm lake, backed by a forested hill.
- Spatial experience
- The building feels light and floating despite its concrete mass, with floor-to-ceiling glass walls creating a seamless visual transition between the interior spaces and the surrounding natural landscape and water.
- Composition rhythm
- The undulating peaks and valleys of the roof create a rhythmic, wave-like motion across the horizontal plane.
- Style reading
- Organic Structuralism
- Program
- Funeral hall or crematorium
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- reinforced-concrete, glass, steel, travertine
- Visual identifiers
- undulating-roof, organic-columns, glass-facade, waterfront-pavilion, concrete-canopy
- Style tags
- organic, structural-expressionism, japanese-modernism
- Visual tags
- organic-modernism, thin-shell-concrete, waterfront, civic-pavilion, seamless-indoor-outdoor
- Geometry
- An undulating, free-form concrete canopy roof supported by tapered, organic columns that merge seamlessly into the ceiling plane. The building footprint curves gently along the edge of an artificial lake.
- Facade system
- Structural glass curtain wall with minimal steel framing.
- Structural guess
- Reinforced concrete thin-shell structure supported by cast-in-place tapered columns.
- Spatial scale
- A single-story pavilion with a monumental, sweeping roofline that scales down to human height at its lowest dips.
- Lighting
- Overcast, diffused daylight with warm interior uplighting that accentuates the underside of the white undulating concrete canopy.
- Atmosphere
- Serene, quiet, and weightless, with the white canopy appearing to float like a cloud above the glass walls.
- Environmental context
- Situated on a grassy bank adjacent to a calm lake, backed by a forested hill.
- Spatial experience
- The building feels light and floating despite its concrete mass, with floor-to-ceiling glass walls creating a seamless visual transition between the interior spaces and the surrounding natural landscape and water.
- Composition rhythm
- The undulating peaks and valleys of the roof create a rhythmic, wave-like motion across the horizontal plane.
- Style reading
- Organic Structuralism
- Program
- Funeral hall or crematorium
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture