In this extended interview from the Louisiana Channel, Japanese architect and experimentalist in sustainable architecture Hiroshi Sambuichi explains how he integrates natural moving materials—sun, water and air—into his architecture. A rare symbiosis of science and nature, each of his buildings are specific to the site and focus on the best orientation and form to harness the power of Earth’s energy, particularly wind. Two of his projects displayed in the video, the Inujima Seirensho Art Museum and the Orizuru Tower, force a contraction of air to make it flow faster and circulate with you through the building, while the Naoshima Hall takes a more sensitive approach due to the nature of the building, reducing the wind’s velocity as it passes.
It’s not as if I reject the splendour of technology. But it creates an architecture where you have to inject energy. But there is always plenty of energy to use.
Sambuichi’s love of nature stemmed from a childhood spent surrounded by water in the Seto Inland Sea, and this can be seen in his natural integration of architecture. His philosophy is that “Architecture should become a detail of the Earth,” thriving much like a plant in the planet’s ecosystem, breathing oxygen and using the energy of the sun.
If new and young architects would think like that, the architecture in about one or two hundred years will grow like forests and become beautiful cities.
Video via Louisiana Channel
