Kusugibashi Bridge / Kengo Kuma & Associates
Kusugibashi Bridge / Kengo Kuma & Associates
Text description provided by the architects. A bridge in Osogoe, Shuto Town, Iwakuni City destroyed by the Western Japan Flood in July 2018, was rebuilt as a wooden bridge that will become a new symbol for the community.
On both sides of the bridge are the factory and store of “Dassai”, a Japanese sake produced by Asahi-Shuzo brewery known for its unique sake production, which covered the wooden part of the construction cost by donation.
Considering the risk of recurring disasters, an RC frame was combined with 105-square cypress balustrades. The arrangement of the cypresses created a gentle curve that echoed the surrounding mountain range, and the use of 105-square members, the most used member-size in Japanese wooden construction, created a bridge with a nostalgic human scale.
By combining Japan’s proud carpentry skills with the modern technology of computational design, a human and soft expression that has never been seen before in conventional civil engineering structures was created.
