Studio Syn_

Arts & Culture

Okikurumi Library

We designed a library on Sakhalin island, North West Pacific. The library focuses on the preservation the intangible cultural heritage of Ainu, Orok and Nivkh people.

The library is named after Okikurumi, the primal man, hero and god who, according to folk stories, educated the Ainu people.

The library offers an inclusive learning experience combining reading with experiential learning, storytelling, community gathering, ecology workshops, crafts, bush-craft across a number of dedicated areas.

Whale-watching room focuses on numerous local cetaceans, such as killer whale, right whale and Western Pacific grey whale, for which the waters off of Sakhalin are their only known feeding ground.

The building is designed to be sturdy, grounded, exposed, dramatic and cosy. Its form is a reminder of the cosmogony and the position of human knowledge in the cosmos.