Kengo Kuma, a 63-year-old Japanese architect, is world-renowned for his projects in the USA, Asia and Europe, particularly France, where he designed the Besançon City of Arts and Culture and the Aix en Provence Conservatory of Music and Dance.

One of his latest projects is located on the American soil, more precisely in Portland, Oregon. Created for Japanese contractor Suteki, the project was unveiled at the 2017 edition of “Street of Dreams”, an annual event that exhibits five houses located in the town of Happy Valley. Each of them reveals the unique talent of its builders, artisans, architects or landscapers, a team of real estate and architectural professionals who collaborate tightly to create outstanding projects.

This is the first time that the Suteki Group builds a house in the USA, aspiring to position itself as one of the main builders in the area. Koichiro Hirata, the group CEO of Suteki, wants to bring a unique cross-cultural concept: combining the best of American modern comforts with the timeless Japanese principles of strength, harmony and balance with nature.

Architect Kengo Kuma aimed at creating interior and exterior living spaces in perfect harmony with surrounding nature. Mixing traditional and contemporary design, the house blends perfectly into the landscape. Materials, shapes and textures harmoniously coexist, embellished by a green sight all around the house.

The garden has been designed by Sadafumi Uchiyama, a landscape architect, with the aim of maximizing the views from both inside and outside the house, while a wooden deck surrounds it allowing its inhabitants to enjoy the outdoor spaces throughout the year.

Regarding this project, Kengo Kuma said: “ Embracing the environment, insisting on natural materials, sustainability and transparency create a space where people can entirely live and enjoy nature in a more intimate way”.