A hidden Recluse
Cloud Sanctuary is a pavilion located near the Japanese Suicide Forest in Mount Fuji. The purpose was to keep two sisters safe while one of them was lost in the forest. The project questions the fundamental difference in a space that makes it safe and uses architecture language such as carving, repetition and molecularity to answer those questions. The pavilion floats on water like a lily pad with the support of Bamboo structure while hidden spaces are carved out deep within the earth for the sisters to hide in. The project uses a cloud like roof to create a journey of the senses that can never twice be experienced as the same, the building is imagined as a huge cloud resting over an artificial island, with a pool of water instead of a floor. The inside of the building is carefully designed to exploit the water and its movements, reflections and color, light and shadow. The result is deeply fascinating and at the same time peaceful.
