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Article from issue 10/2007 »Translucent Materials«

Wedding Chapel in Osaka

documentation p. 1106 - 1109
Architect Jun Aoki & Associates | Structural Engineer Space and Structure Engineering Workshop |

Drafts
1:20 Vertical section
1:2000 Site plan
1:500 Floor plan
1:500 Section
Axonometric of ring tetrahedrons

The White Chapel seems to hover mysteriously above the lake in front of the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Visible constructional details were avoided wherever possible. The roof drainage, for example, runs in a narrow joint around the eaves. All the more striking is the mesh of steel rings behind the frameless glazing along the south face. Here, decoration and construction form a homogeneous whole. The rings are geometrically arranged in numerous regular tetrahedrons joined together to form nine elements. These were prefabricated at works and fixed on site to the roof structure, which was designed on a purely functional basis. The internal wall surfaces, lined with tautly stretched cotton fabric, create a dematerialized effect. During the day, the shadows of the six-metre-high ring construction can be seen indistinctly on the fabric. In the evening, when the building is illuminated, it is mirrored in the surface of the lake. These sensuous qualities probably account for the great success of the chapel: in its first year, more than 200 weddings have taken place there.