The building with two aboveground and one underground floors with a total area of 3,716 m2 is located in Houston. Taniguchi and Associates received an order for its design back in 2004, but the money for the construction - almost $ 50 million - was found just two years ago. The Houston administration allocated about 1 hectare of land to the community, and after a while a squat structure appeared on the site, like the surrounding buildings, a building resembling the letter L on the plan.
The main façade overlooks Southmore Boulevard: this direction offers a magnificent view, the otherworldliness of which is given by a decorative pool, equipped with smoke machines, raised on supports to the level of the second floor. The steaming smooth surface of the water - you can look at it for hours. The idea of creating such a pond for contemplation is clearly borrowed from the philosophy of the East.
And here is an example of "oriental" perfectionism: limestone was used for facing the facades and premises of the Center. In German quarries, 470 blocks of 3.6 x 3.6 x 3 m were cut out, but the author of the project rejected most of it. As a result, only 50 blocks went into work, of which the workers cut tiles no more than 3 cm thick. By the way, limestone is Taniguchi's favorite material, it was his architect who used it in the decor of the halls of the Tokyo National Museum.
On the facades of the Center, we see significant areas of glazing: reinforced, so-called anti-hurricane glass was used in construction, which is very important for flat Texas. This glass profile withstands wind gusts up to 110 km / h.
The main premises of the Center can be called the auditorium for 273 people. It is decorated with panels of American cherry, and only one old tree, which is more than 100 years old, was used for them. In addition, there is a 370 m2 art gallery, a 270 m2 education center, a general meeting room, and a sculpture garden.
In conclusion, I would like to say about the "western", pragmatic side of the concept. The center is equipped with a geothermal system, which has no analogues in Texas. Its elements are located underground in the parking lot. These are 117 wells with a depth of more than 75 m; thanks to them, the heating and cooling of the premises is carried out. The system has reduced the cost of heating and air conditioning the building from 12 to 5 thousand dollars per month.
