Kazaguruma

The two goals of the project “Kazaguruma” are the change of skin like floating cloud by means of the wind and the energy supply by means of the wind power generation. This building is at a seacoast of a reclaimed ground in Tokyo, JAPAN. kazaguruma is the toy which Japanese children enjoy by means of the use of wind. We conceived this idea from the form and the movement of it. The size of a kazaguruma is 50 centimeters in diameter, and it covers the overall façade of this building. Therefore the volume of this building looks like a cloud floating over the ground on account of several small kazagurumas covering the large building. This skin expresses sky’s gradation like a cloud being flowed away by the wind because the wind that blows from the sea changes the rotational speed of each kazaguruma. It seems as if the wind talks to the building.

In environmental quality assessment, Kazaguruma transforms wind energy into electrical energy using to this very building, and the surplus energy supplies surrounding town. Presently, the consumption of energy is increasing, therefore, wind power generation is being in vogue as one renewable energy, and its study is being made all over the world. Hence, scaling it down shall be realized within ten years.

Structures of this façade consist of 3 layers. First layer is the kazaguruma. Second layer is the half-mirror. Third layer is the frame to fix shaft of the kazaguruma. The half-mirror reflect the kazaguruma and the sky at day, and indoor light like sunlight through the trees pours into the city at night because of the revolution of the kazaguruma.

In Japan, the feature wind blows every four seasons because the monsoon acts throughout the year. We feel the expressions of the wind and the cloud that reflects the four seasons.