jury commentary
“Komorebi”, as the project is titled, refers to the sunlight filtered through the leaves of a tree, or the curtain of light visible after the rain. Importance is given here to spatial sequencing - one begins within a small changing room cabin, then wanders along a tree-lined approach trail, before passing through a narrow corridor and crossing below a low threshold, and finally entering upon a meditation space and courtyard garden open to the sky. The axonometric is accompanied by a text narrative describing the experience as a story told in the first person. The materiality is relevant to the site - charred wood panels, polycarbonate, timber and gravel. The black-and-white drawings are excellent in their depiction of light and shadow.
jury commentary
This winning project consists of two stacked 2.9-meter cubes: at the ground level, a glass-enclosed therapy space, just large enough to house a massage table; and above, an open-air meditation space within a dense lattice of cork. The lattice structure is accessed by a ladder and supports a constellation of paper lanterns, in the vein of the japanese ‘kake-andon’. The jury writes: “A ‘lantern on the landscape’, the project is evocative and manages to create a distinctive and beautiful proposal that also resonates with its surroundings.” The perspective drawings are atmospheric, focusing on the scale of the body as well as the relationship with nature.