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This fine site is framed by a finely defined topography with its gentle south facing slop and a stream running through it. There was already evidence here of a “tideline” marking where man’s endeavors have meet the encroachments of nature over a long period of time. Nature has put man to work and the countryside bears witness to those endeavors which span the centuries. They also symbolize a spiritual fountainhead of the forces behind the endeavors of Naomi Uemura and express the existence of man’s will having adapted to nature, therefore, the main point of this project was to establish conditions whereby visitors would be able to make a link with the countryside which natured this great explorer’s perception when he was a boy. The rice paddies and the ridge line of the Tajima mountains forming a continuous backdrop to this pastoral scene are like an interwoven fabric of nature and man’s labors and symbolize the scenery encompassing this place. The open situation facing this was created to house the various formative elements of the composition such as Mr.Kuruy7s architectural modeling which is reminiscent of the crevasses that Uemura must have encountered, when he crossed the frozen wastes of the Arctic alone. From the right a line of tulip trees (Liriodendron tulipifera) and gravel paths, grass, a belt of stones, clipped shrubs, block paved paths and a low stone wall with a polished finish stretch in a straight line from the entrance in that order. The view of beautiful terraced paddies apparently floating beyond the point where this line breaks off add a final touch to the composition.
ADDRESS : Toyooka,Hyougo
SCALE : 31,500m2
COMPLETION : 1994.03
BUSINESS OWNER : Hidaka-tyo
COLLABORATION / ARCHITECT : A.KURYU ARCHITECT & ASSOCIATES Co.,Ltd.
AWARD : Prize of AIJ for Design (1996) , 土木学会デザイン賞「優秀賞」(2009)