Kurkku Fields, Japan
Tucked into a corner of Kurkku Fields sits a library built inside the earth. The fields were previously home to flat, dry land and construction debris. As the lush valley was restored, the architects believed the building should sit beneath the plants and microorganisms in the soil, allowing the cultivated soil layer to remain undisturbed. This idea led to the creation of the library, a "small cleft in the earth" where farmers could stop to rest.
Architects designed the library to seamlessly blend into the surrounding greenery. They followed the slope of the land and plowed out parts to create a water droplet shape. A set of stairs leads visitors down from the point of the droplet and into the library below. Eliminating beams and columns to make way for concrete slabs that form the outer retaining and wing walls. The outer elements, floor, walls and ceiling, are given an “earthen finish,” and the lawn continues up the vertical edge of the concrete slab. The smooth blend of architectural and natural elements allows the space to remain concealed under the valley. The vertical extension of the lawn also allows for irrigation and water retention, both of which can be adjusted based on the season.
As the slope changes, so does the library’s ceiling. In some sections, the low ceilings allow for smaller hidden rooms for children. Deep within the library is a hall meant for storytelling - complete with stepped seats and built-in bookshelves. Most notable is the hall’s ceiling where thin vertical beams arrange themselves to support their neighbor, building up until they meet to form a circle. With the added support of the 40mm-thick vertical bookshelf frames, the unique design choice represents a “chain of reciprocal support” where “a social space arises that cannot be created by strong individuals alone.” The circle of light in the center symbolizes the agricultural community of Kurkku Fields and frames an earth covered in clouds.
Every element, from the exterior foundations to the book-shaped lights that line the corridor, has been carefully crafted to fit the architect's vision. Visitors can walk the main corridor and watch the day pass by from benches built into the surrounding bookshelves or enjoy quiet moments in the study, complete with a skylight capturing the sun and foliage under a kaleidoscope effect. As Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP describe, "It is a library that thinks of the earth while being embraced in the wisdom of the earth and human beings.”
