The Cloud - Manggha Museum, Krakow

SE has been working with Kengo Kuma Architects & Associates to provide an insight on a wooden structure named « the cloud ». The concept behind it is to create a levitating shape, constituted of two standard elements : a long and a short one. The two types of connections resulting are at a 45° angle, each around one a different orientaton, allowing the shape variation. Using this process, three different cloud shapes have been designed and are assembled in Poland, at Krakow’s Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology.

In terms of structural design the challenge here was to achieve a 100% wooden connection, that could work and bring resistance in virtually any orientation, while being standard and having no variation. To do so we took inspiration from both Polish and Japanese traditionnal wood craftmanship. Both use angles at their advantage, to interlock the wooden elements thus creating fixed connections. Here the angles allow the same thing, avoiding movement and rotations around all axis, the last one being prevented by a wooden pin which will go through both elements.

Photos © Kengo Kuma Architects & Associates