words Alex Wiltshire
“We had the British caravan in mind,” says Mark Dytham of Tokyo-based Klein Dytham Architects of its new wedding reception space.
The 22m-long structure, clad in mirror-finished stainless steel, is part of the Risonare hotel resort in Kobuchizawa, two hours south of Tokyo in the Japanese Alps.
The structure juts out from the main hotel buildings like a pier into the surrounding forest, over a sloping hillside.
KDA’s idea was that the reflections would partially hide the building among the trees.
“In the late evening it reflects the light the best,” says Dytham. “You wonder what on earth it is – it’s like a stealth box.”
The interior space, which the architects describe as “Miesian”, is a separate unit slotted into the external envelope and defined by its floor-to-ceiling windows.
The space features a single tapered table with the widest end reserved for the bride and groom. The ceiling is decorated with motifs that reference the forest.
KDA has completed several projects at the hotel, which is designed by Italian architect Mario Bellini – most notably a hemispherical wedding chapel (icon 024).