Kagome

foto: Simon Oberhammer

foto: Roland Krauss

A house that grows

The Museum Quarter’s request for a children’s sandpit was no special challenge per se. On closer examination however, this task is more than meets the eye, with regard to solar protection alone. Children’s delicate skin must be protected in summer, but needs sunlight in the intermediate season. The best example of that is the living leaf. So it was obvious that we would venture into the experiment of building a living house. That it changes over time, is a natural thing and regarded as an advantage. The leaf’s hairdo sits exactly in the right place: compact at the top, with visibility at eye level, especially useful when children need to establish immediate contact with their parents.

The name Kagome originates from a Japanese children’s song or a certain basket-weaving technique. It was designed and developed together with Julia Stefanie Meyer and Simon Oberhammer. Initially, the “material” was grown in Bavaria and then joined together in Vienna.