A new Sou Fujimoto temporary hall for the Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine in Japan is revealed, completed with an elevated, lush green roof
This Sou Fujimoto temporary hall has all the ingredients of a Japanese fairy-tale: a floating forest on an oval roof, a flying plum tree and sacred textiles seen only by a deity. And after three years? It will disappear. This weekend, Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine, a historic site in lush green Fukuoka in southern Japan, starts a new chapter in its 1,100-year history, with the opening of its project by architect Fujimoto.
'We started this over two years ago. It was a challenge creating a temporary building which is both traditional and modern, while also continuing into the future. It’s very simple but it carries a long, important history.'The shrine was built 1,121 years ago upon the grave of Sugawara Michizane, a legendary ninth century poet, scholar and politician who was exiled to Dazaifu from Kyoto. After his death he was recognised as Tenjin, the Shinto deity of learning, culture and the arts.
Explaining the floating forest, Fujimoto adds: 'Its concept derives from the legend of the flying plum tree. Plum trees and other plants seem to fly here and dance, creating the roof of the deity’s dwelling. They will change colour as the climate and seasons shift.' Spanning 13m across the hall is Mame Kurogouchi’s sacred curtain, called a mitobari, made by 19th century Kyoto-based Kawashima Selkon. Delicately-etched plum tree branches flow across five panels of subtly shifting shades, from airy pale pink to light green. The inner side, out of sight of visitors, was designed for the deity Tenjin.
Surfaces are textured with vertical threads typically seen on the reverse side of textiles – an organic blurring of inside and out also found in her fashion collections – evoking a visual sense of rain falling and time flowing.
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