Sou Fujimoto: Creating connections - a fertile future for cork in architecture

The work of Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto is an invitation to return to the origins of architecture in order to design the future. For the renowned architect, author of “Primitive Future”, cork is the perfect material to create connections between nature, architecture and people. And to bridge the gap between the past and the future.

"Cork is a material that has remarkable possibilities. An example of this is the way that it can link the interior with the exterior. It can be used in interior and exterior environments that extend beyond architecture. Through continuous use of the same material, inside and outside, the interior and exterior become integrated and expand the living environment. Cork makes?us feel that the interior flows into the exterior while remaining perfectly intact. This adds a new dimension to the current notion of the continuity between the interior and exterior, integrating them through tactile sensation.

From an architectural perspective, cork is sufficiently solid to be structural, its texture is suitable for use as a finishing material and it also works well as an insulator. With this material, it is possible to create a complete architecture. One day I hope to create a house entirely made of cork. That would generate a fusion of new material, space, function and experience. I thought that this might become a dream for an architect; to create a living environment around us with various forms of a single material.

One material, cork, could connect architecture and many other aspects of everyday life, thereby generating a new form of integration. A material that metamorphoses itself into something that generates a coexistence of variety and simplicity, which I think would certainly be a new method for creating a fertile living environment.

Above all, cork is a timeless material that connects the past, present and future, due to its sustainability. Without referring to any architecture in particular, but thinking about a specific living environment with a much longer life cycle, I believe that cork’s inherent sustainability allows people to add several touches; to keep improving that?which is created between the material and architecture, which, in turn, develops into an interdependent connection between people and their living environment.

That which connects nature, architecture and people. That which connects the past, present and future. I encounter this fertile possibility in cork."

Sou Fujimoto