Oregon's Portland Japanese Garden is a place of extraordinary beauty. The gorgeous, calming landscapes, feature a traditional Japanese teahouse and a stunning gallery. Nobuo Matsunaga, Japan's former Ambassador to the United States, has rightfully regarded the garden as, “the most beautiful and authentic Japanese garden in the world outside of Japan”.
In April 2017, the Portland Japanese Garden opened its Cultural Village expansion to the public. Tokyo-based architect, Kengo Kuma
The garden's website indicated that the purpose of the expansion project was to “…[exist] harmoniously with nature and [serve] as a mere frame from which to view the exquisite beauty of the surrounding landscape.”
The garden's newest buildings, the Jordan Schnitzer Japanese Arts Learning Center, the Garden House, and the Umani Café, were all designed utilizing traditional Japanese elements. However, modern materials such as steel framing, glass curtain walls, and aluminum were used to construct each building. The metal panels used for the café's sloped roof, the learning center, and Garden House's ground-floor wraparound roofs were manufactured by Pure + Freeform.
The panels, which feature an 8-coat Lumiflon exterior coating, were designed with a custom finish, which emulates the appearance of a stone. pure + freeform elaborated on the final product, stating, “The surface has silver and white pearlescent ink with matte granite layers on top.”
The Lumiflon-coated panels, which were locally sourced, recyclable, and contain low-VOC contributed to the garden's leed Gold certification.
Surfaces enriched with Lumiflon FEVE resin technology offer durability, exceptional weatherability, and matchless color and gloss retention. They added, “The marine grade aluminum also features a custom 8-coat Lumiflon exterior coating, which will allow the color and design to remain unchanged for decades to come.”
Photos courtesy of Dezeen and Pure + Freeform
Categories Architecture