Architect Kengo Kuma’s Authentic Village Beautifies Portland Japanese Gardens
Keith Flamer , CONTRIBUTOR I cover luxury estates, architecture and design Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
The preamble to the U.S. Constitution establishes domestic tranquility. That peace is harder to find in today’s hectic, hyper partisan society—except in Oregon.
The Cultural Village at the Portland Japanese Gardens represents architect Kengo Kuma’s first commission in the United States. The Cultural Village at the Portland Japanese Gardens represents architect Kengo Kuma’s first commission in the United States.
Famed Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, designer of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics’ National Stadium, offers some relief as creator of the Portland Japanese Garden’s new 3.4-acre Cultural Village, set to open this April. Already celebrated as perhaps the most authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan, the Oregon tourist destination’s $33.5 million expansion represents Kuma’s first public commission in the United States.
The new landscape includes an 18-foot-high Medieval wall and a similar layout to Japan’s “mozenmachi”—the imposing gate-front towns surrounding sacred shrines and temples. www.forbes.com/sites/keithflamer/2017/01/28/architect-kengo-kumas-authentic-village-beautifies-portland-japanese-gardens/#26bf3fd68f41
Aussie: When she said that to me yesterday, I agreed with her out of politeness but what does it actually mean, ha ha?
You: You’re lucky you didn’t agree to anything strange! 暑気払い (shoki-barai) is a term which means ‘to dispel the summer heat’, where 暑気 (shoki) means ‘summer / intense heat’ and 払い (barai), originally ‘harai’, means ‘to get rid of’ or ‘to disperse’. http://nichigopress.jp/learn/jpculture/137406/