Japanese Cultural Center, Kinshasa City Building Images, Democratic Republic of Congo Architecture

Japanese Cultural Center, Congo

Congolese Mixed Use Building design by Beijing Matsubara and Architects (BMA)

29 Apr 2013

Design: Beijing Matsubara and Architects (BMA)

Location: Kinshasa City, D.R. Congo

Kinshasa Building

Japanese Cultural Center Congo - Kinshasa Building

Japanese Cultural Center of D.R. Congo

This building has built by “grass-root grant aid fund” of Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan) in area of Gombe Institute of Pedagogique, the center part of Kinshasa city, D.R. Congo.

Japanese Cultural Center D.R. Congo Japanese Cultural Center D.R. Congo Japanese Cultural Center D.R. Congo
photos : Tokyo Matsubara and Architects

The plan is 19m ×19m and single story building. Semi-exterior penetrates the building and connects different rooms – training hall, classroom, offi ce, tea ceremony room etc. We built 43 sheets of RC wallpillars (210mm of thickness, 2420mm of height, and 1050mm of width) and join thm with beams in the top. These beams become the drainage in the rain season.

Japanese Cultural Center D.R. Congo Japanese Cultural Center D.R. Congo Japanese Cultural Center D.R. Congo Japanese Cultural Center D.R. Congo
photos : Tokyo Matsubara and Architects

The wooden roof trussed with three different spans have same height. A semi-exterior corridor and the outside courtyard will become the important environmental buffer and the place where people gather in the dry season. This building looks simple from outside, however the inside space has more complicated impression because the interior and exterior space are coexiting.

Japanese Cultural Center D.R. Congo Japanese Cultural Center D.R. Congo Japanese Cultural Center D.R. Congo Japanese Cultural Center D.R. Congo
photos : Tokyo Matsubara and Architects

This building was built with small scale of governmental budget (10 million Japanese Yen) and by non-professional workers, so that the building has open and tolerant atomosphere.

Japanese Cultural Center – Building Information

Project Name: Japanese Cultural Center of D.R. Congo
Design: Keio University SFC Hironori Matsubara Laboratory
Architect: Hironori MATSUBARA, Yoko TATEMOTO
Address: North area of Gombe Institute of Pedagogigue, Pere Boka avenue, area of Gombe, Kinshasa city, D.R. Congo

Total Floor Area: 271.3 sqm
Design Period: Dec 2011 – Mar 2012
Construction Period: Mar 2012 – Mar 2013
Completion: Mar 2013
Construction: ACADEX local volunteer’s construction team
Client: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Japan
Photographs: Tokyo Matsubara and Architects

Japanese Cultural Center information from Beijing Matsubara and Architects

Location: Pere Boka avenue, Kinshasa city, D.R. Congo, Africa

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Comments / photos for the Japanese Cultural Center BuildingD.R. Congo Architecture design by Beijing Matsubara and Architects (BMA) in Africa page welcome