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Chiaki Arai: Kadare Cultural Centre

In Japan, a new multipurpose cultural centre allows for surprising, customisable spaces, organised in a charmingly inconsistent, organic manner.

Japanese practice Chiaki Arai Urban & Architecture Design have recently completed Kadare, a new multipurpose cultural centre in Yurihonjo City, which combines a multipurpose theatre, a library, and community centre. The project's site was originally divided by a road, a feature which the architects reversed by joining the two sites and creating an indoor street which runs from north to south of the complex, providing access to each of the building's features. The street, named Wai-Wai street, also features a number of stores and restaurants, and its design allows sunlight to permeate the space.

According to the architects, "the whole process of Kadare contributes to cultural sustainability." The centre's name, Kadare, was chosen through a public contest, where anyone could send a suggestion. The chosen name combines the region's Akita dialect word "kadare" (meaning "to include in one's group") with the Japanese verb "katari-au" (which means "to talk with someone else, or a group of people.") The project's development was also accompanied by several workshops with locals, some of which were developed specifically with children and students. The spaces were designed based on somaesthetic perception, taking into consideration human scale and the usability of rooms. The way spaces are organised is organic and inconsistent, seeking to emulate the way "mangrove trees grow."

Chiaki Arai Urban & Architecture Design, Kadare Cultural Centre, Yurihonjo City, Japan. Above, the seemingly suspended planetarium over the library

The centre's different venues are adaptable and customisable. The theatre, with a capacity for 1,1000 people, can be reconfigured in several ways — traditional or centre stage, removal of bleachers and seats — for different events. The building's hall can be combined with the citizen activity room, the gallery and north and south parks, forming a 135 metre-long dynamic and spacious tunnel, which the architects have dubbed the "super box". The planetarium's structure appears to float above the library, suspended by four bending columns and featuring skylights around it. The library is a large, open space with space for 220 thousand volumes and 188 browsing seats scattered through the space.