The Japan House São Paulo, designed by Kengo Kuma and Associates together with FGMF Arquitetos, was officially opened to the public on May 2017. São Paulo is the city with the single largest Japanese community outside of Japan. Besides the Brazilian unit, there are similar ones in London and Los Angeles. These cultural hubs are an initiative of Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to present a contemporary side of the country in an institution that brings together art, culture and technology.

The project for São Paulo is not a new building but rather a renovation of an existing construction. It used to be a bank agency and the architecture solution adapted the space for the new use. In addition to opening the slabs for vertical circulation, the building’s structure was reinforced to welcome an increase of the public.

The cultural hub is located on the Paulista Avenue. Surrounded by high-rises, this 3-floor building may seem tiny yet the Japan House manages to stand out due to its spectacular facade, cladded with wired Kiso hinoki cypress strips, a typical tree from Japan. The wood strips form a portal through which the visitors enter and exit the cultural hub.

As one looks through the wooden facade, one can see behind it a small square. It is a transition space between the busy avenue and the inside of the building. The building’s internal facade facing the square is made up of “cobogós”, hollow blocks typical of Brazil’s Modern architecture. Both surfaces – with the wooden strips and the “cobogó’s” – have openings, so they offer protection from sunlight while still allowing natural ventilation to pass through.

At the time of my visit, the Japan House was showing an exhibition by artist Kohei Nawa, which occupied almost the entire ground floor. As I entered the cultural hub, I found myself immediately inside the exhibition room. Towards the back, there is a museum shop, a café, a library and a small garden. In a reference to traditional Japanese rock gardens, here the stone paving is continuous, which results in an artificial topography. This zen garden, enclosed by the surrounding buildings, offers the visitors a place for rest and contemplation.

Next to the reception, the elevator and stairway lead us to the other floors. The elevator is encompassed by glass panels which highlight the metallic structure. This transparency allows the visitor to go from one floor to the other and still maintain a visual contact with the spaces.

Going up to the first floor, there is a multipurpose room for events and, on the top floor, there is another exhibition gallery and a traditional Japanese restaurant. The restaurant’s large windows reveal a linear garden outside, circumscribed by a wall of bamboo trees. The bamboos drown out the noise of the Paulista Avenue and provide a glimpse of the Japanese landscape.

Throughout the building, there is constant a variation between transparent and semi-see through surfaces. From one space it is often possible to see into the adjacent rooms. Someone in the exhibition gallery on the top floor, for instance, can see into the restaurant, its kitchen and the bamboo garden behind. The visual continuity contributes to the dissipation of natural light through the interiors. At times, the glass panels are covered with a metallic mesh in washi style – an expanded aluminium metal soaked in liquefied paper mulberry – a solution which combines a new material with a traditional Japanese craft technique. This mesh is applied to the partitions between the shop and the exhibition gallery on the ground floor, between the restaurant and the gallery on the top floor and on the glass panels of the elevator shaft.

The concrete slab is in plain sight, much like the building’s installations. The lighting system is movable so it can be adapted for each exhibition.