Kyusendo Vacation Bungalows Kumamoto Artpolis

 

Kyusendo is a cave located along the Kumagawa River, and on the opposite bank is a vacation village with numerous cabins and chalets. Two of them are quite unique and are part of Kumamoto Artpolis.

Kumamoto Artpolis is a prefecture-wide program that attempts to use innovative architecture as part of rural regeneration. There are about 100 projects in total and as I walk through the prefecture I have planned my route to try and visit as many of them as I can. A few days previously I had visited the Manga Museum in Yunomae.

The cube-shaped one is called Mokuban and is constructed out of huge blocks of wood and looks somewhat like a giant version of Jenga. I was able to see inside through the windows.

The second one is called Mokuban R2 and is also made out of wood, though thinner, vertical slats with gaps in between. the whole thing seems to be encased in a type of translucent resin. Photo of the interior look quite nice with lots of light, and at night when lit on the inside it looks cool from the exterior.