The “ethereal magnificence” of classical Japanese Noh theatre knowledgeable Kengo Kuma and Associates‘ design for the Banyan Tree resort in Kyoto, with a devoted stage hidden in its stepped gardens.
Banyan Tree Higashiyama Kyoto is about within the foothills of town’s easterly Higashiyama mountains, in a historic district brimming with temples and shrines, antique cemeteries and burial grounds.
The world’s symbolic position as a bridge to the afterlife led Kengo Kuma and Associates (KKA) to seek out the principle inspiration for its design within the 14th-century artwork of Noh, generally known as the “theatre of ghosts” as a result of it tends to characteristic spirits as key characters.
“The resort was impressed by the ethereal fantastic thing about Noh,” Kuma advised Dezeen. “Noh is a classic artwork kind that has roots in Kyoto, Japan, and is a superb expression of the internal struggles and intricate feelings of human beings.”
These references may be seen not simply within the resort’s devoted Noh stage – a timber skeleton manufactured from yellow cedar and Kyoto cypress – but in addition within the structure of the resort itself and the interiors of its 52 visitor rooms designed by the tardy designer Yukio Hashimoto.
The resort’s design was guided by the Japanese aesthetic precept of yūgen, describing a mysterious, still magnificence that is likely one of the central tenets of Noh, as set out by playwright Zeami Motokiyo.
“All the resort was designed to offer a spot for reflection,” Kuma mentioned. “And the Noh stage, set towards the encompassing greenery, is arguably essentially the most symbolic place throughout the resort that displays the idea of yūgen.”
Banyan Tree Higashiyama Kyoto is about on a sloped website with a peak distinction of 12 metres between its lowest and highest level.
To take advantage of the restricted house, KKA created a pair of mid-rise strengthened concrete volumes, offering panoramic views over Kyoto and framing the stepped gardens, which may be accessed from completely different flooring of the resort.
Banyan Tree’s most important four-storey constructing homes the bedrooms and all the widespread areas – together with a triple-height foyer, the Ryozen restaurant, a cavernous bar and gender-split onsen baths – whereas the perpendicular three-storey annexe accommodates extra friends.
KKA put in three tiers of eaves with slatted timber overhangs to interrupt up these two monolithic volumes and supply a contemporary tackle classic Japanese structure.
“The restricted website meant that the resort construct can be vital in quantity,” Kuma mentioned. “To match the dimensions of the encompassing space, we determined to exploit the eaves to visually divide the constructing into smaller sections.”
“Steady rafters have been then put in to create the deep, elongated eaves and pliable shadows that replicate the classic Japanese dimension system and harmonise with the environment.”
The resort’s entrance is sheltered by a miniature gabled roof, held up with out columns. As an alternative, the cantilevered construction is supported by an elaborate stack of criss-crossing beams.
“By using cutting-edge resin-based development strategies to securely be a part of the wood beams, we achieved a way of levitation that will not be doable with typical wood development,” Kuma mentioned.
“This pioneering mix of contemporary know-how and classic craftsmanship permits us to current a outstanding architectural feat – a large wood construction seemingly floating within the air to welcome guests.”
To mix the constructing into the Higashiyama panorama, KKA used weathered stones from an present masonry wall on the positioning alongside rustic chunks of granite to clad the bottom of the principle constructing.
The studio additionally preserved and restored the prevailing landscaping on the positioning, together with moss, stones, bushes and a compact bamboo grove, which hides the balmy spring feeding the resort’s onsen baths.
A craggy rock pond sits on the identical degree because the ground-floor foyer and annexe, whereas the bamboo grove and Noh stage may be accessed from the second flooring by way of the terrace of restaurant Ryozen, which serves multi-course kaiseki meals.
The stage itself is about on stilts above a shallow reflecting pool and presents an much more pared-back interpretation of a usually minimalist Noh stage, with no strong partitions or roof hiding its timber skeleton.
As an alternative of the classic kagami-ita backdrop of a painted pine tree, the stage now frames views of actual bushes.
“Setting up a roofed constructing was not permitted on the positioning the place the Noh stage now stands,” Kuma mentioned. “Nonetheless, this restriction impressed a novel strategy to the stage’s design.”
“To honour this artwork kind, we designed the Noh stage with an uncovered wood framework that reaches in the direction of the sky, seamlessly integrating with the encompassing pure panorama, whereas aiming to retain the options of a classic Noh stage as a lot as doable.”
The inside additionally goals to translate classic Japanese design particulars by way of a simplified, contemporary materials choice, drawing closely on wooden and stone.
To take care of visible curiosity regardless of this pared-back palette, timber was handled in several methods all through the foyer – both charred to kind ornamental columns or laid in a chequerboard sample of alternating grains throughout the ground.
A mottled texture paying homage to hammered metallic was translated into wooden to kind the bottom of the reception desk, making exploit of a classic Japanese carving method referred to as naguri.
This similar sample, coated in regionally sourced gold leaf, additionally options throughout headboards within the visitor suites.
The rooms are prosperous in classic particulars like tatami flooring and cypress-wood bathtubs – though many have been tailored to swimsuit contemporary tastes.
The moveable shoji screens enclosing the bathtub, for instance, have their timber lattices hidden behind layers of washi paper, whereas the horigotatsu seating space was raised to cater to Western seating preferences and create a compact workspace.
“We mix traditional Japanese parts with a recent execution in refined methods all through our design,” mentioned the Hashimoto Yukio Design Studio group.
“An instance can be the tea desk, the place we mixed a pure strong piece of tochi for the tabletop with hexagon-shaped legs – a refined and complicated element to match the model of the room.”
KKA has beforehand been answerable for designing numerous well-liked lodges throughout the nation together with the Ace Resort Kyoto and Version lodges in Tokyo’s Toranomon and Ginza districts.
