The Taiwanese company SunnyHills is well known in the East Asian sweets market - in particular, the pineapple pies it produces are considered one of the best in their "genre". In 2014, the SunnyHills brand officially made it to Japan: the first candy store was opened in Tokyo under this name. Its small building (total area is 293 m2) was designed by Kengo Kuma.
The facades of this compact 3-storey building are a diamond-shaped lattice assembled from thin wooden slats. Due to the use of slats of different lengths and their intersection at an angle of either 30 or 60 degrees, the lattice is three-dimensional and therefore resembles a cloud. The architect himself compares the resulting volume with a wicker bamboo basket, but if desired, you can also see the resemblance to an unpeeled pineapple in it, which even better matches the store's theme. Also, according to the idea of Kengo Kuma, such a cladding will remind of forest thickets, serving as the antipode of the "stone jungle" of Tokyo.
Wooden planks, the total length of which exceeds 5,000 meters, are assembled using the traditional Japanese technique of jigoku-gumi without the use of glue or nails. Internal partitions in the store are also diamond-shaped lattices, but already two-dimensional. The entrance is marked with the help of an impromptu arch: from the side of the crossroads to which the building is facing, the wooden "canopy" of the lattice is raised. Another similar opening is made on the upper level, where an open landscaped terrace is located. Greenery is also used in the interior: in particular, it flanks the wide steps of the wooden staircase that connects the floors of the building.
