Kengo Kuma’s Jenga-Like Cafe Kureon is Made from Stacks of Locally Sourced Logs

Pick-up Sticks anyone? <a title="Kengo Kuma’s Cafe Kureon is Designed for Disassembly " href="http://kkaa.co.jp/" target="_blank">Kengo Kuma + and Associates</a> used wood as if it were masonry to create the beautifully stacked Cafe Kureon in Toyama, Japan. An organic <a title="Kengo Kuma’s Cafe Kureon is Designed for Disassembly " href="http://inhabitat.com/kengo-kumas-transparent-temporary-shelter-pays-homage-to-classic-japanese-literature/" target="_blank">construction</a> inspired by the forest, this cozy eatery was made by piling up locally sourced logs Jenga-style.

Cafe Kureon consist of an enclosed glass box surrounded by columns of piled blocks and topped with a corrugated metal roof.

Kuma used local <a title="Kengo Kuma’s Cafe Kureon is Designed for Disassembly " href="http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/construction/materials/untreated-lumber-better.htm" target="_blank">untreated wood</a> and held the timber stacks together with thin steel rods.

This unique building method makes <a title="Kengo Kuma’s Cafe Kureon is Designed for Disassembly " href="http://ecodesign.lboro.ac.uk/?section=97" target="_blank">disassembly</a> easy, so the café can be moved to a different location when the time comes.

Kengo Kuma’s Cafe Kureon is yet another example of how Japanese architecture <a title="Kengo Kuma’s Cafe Kureon is Designed for Disassembly " href="http://inhabitat.com/japanese-takaya-house-features-a-natural-floor-made-from-tamped-earth/" target="_blank">brings the outside in</a>.

The interiors are light and airy, thanks to large floor-to-ceiling windows.

Interlocking lengths of timber are placed perpendicular to each other to form wooden columns both inside and outside.