KOMYOJI TEMPLE DETAIL THE SPIRAL STOOL

This project designed by Tadao Ando dealt with the reconstruction of a temple of the Pure Land Buddhist sect. Situated on the eastern side of the city of Saijo, in Ehime Prefecture, the site dates back to the Edo period. Architects conceived the new temple as a wooden building, cloaked in delicate light and appearing to float on an expanse of water fed by a spring. Such a design emphasises the importance of water as a feature of the landscape and, above all, the choice of wood as a material of construction. Ando said that as he had noticed it, traditional Japanese wooden architecture was essentially one of assembly. Building involved cutting all the pieces of wood and, bit by bit, the construction took form as the various parts came together. Such a technique had been perfected to achieve works of power and beauty.

Ando said that as he had noticed it, traditional Japanese wooden architecture was essentially one of assembly. Building involved cutting all the pieces of wood and, bit by bit, the construction took form as the various parts came together. Such a technique had been perfected to achieve works of power and beauty.

This project was intended to remake a roof detail designed by Tadao Ando and study the various joineries and details. We started off with precise cuts of teak wood which were assembled in an orderly fashion where the wood peices are interlocked using grooves.The joineries are held together using screws and nails.

This was a furniture design exercise. Stool was the chosen furniture which could be used and was also durable.

We started off by mdking concept models using smaller strands of bamboo where we could explore the possibilites of our spiral spring concept. Then made a prototype of our final stool and went on to finish the final product which works and holds up people sitting.

Initially we thought of a spring, which also matched the quality of our bamboo. We then sketched a few possibilities as shown on the left.