Kengo Kuma & Associates designed an ethereal building that appears to drift within this new green oasis in the heart of the city. Wrapped in mesh, the café shimmers like a mirage—"an oasis floating in the middle of the urban landscape"—with a pristine white cube inside, featuring an iconic counter.
The building is enveloped in a mesh supported by a steel structure, which helps filter sunlight and softens the rigid geometry of the cube. This design choice creates a blurred effect, evoking the image of a small temple—a place that invites visitors to escape the city's hustle and immerse themselves in a new, serene landscape.
Cs Somme Café by Kengo Kuma. Photograph by Katsumasa Tanaka.
Cs Somme Café by Kengo Kuma. Photograph by Katsumasa Tanaka.
Project description by Kengo Kuma & Associates (KKAA)
We designed an ethereal café drifting on a small green in a big city. Wrapped in mesh, the caté shimmers like a mirage: an oasis floating in the middle of the urban landscape.
The interlocking of the arched steel frame supporting the mesh and the grid-like steel frame supporting the inner rectangular boxes ensures sufficient earthquake resistance in spite of the thin members. In this sense it can be called a modern version of a flying buttress with interlocking outer and inner frames. The mesh wrapping also saves energy by cutting the sun's rays.
Inside, savoir-faire floats in a white cube, including a counter polished by plastering and translucent light fixtures made of telescopic fabric.
