In recent years, Hiroshi Sugimoto has branched out from photography to work actively on a number of architectural design projects. In 2002, as part of the Naoshima House Project, Sugimoto undertook the restoration of the Go-ou shrine which dates from the Ashikaga period (1333-1573). His refurbished design, a gesture of faith in ancient Japanese deities, attracted attention for the way in which it broke from the original form of the shrine's architecture. This exhibition features models and panels that introduce viewers to his latest architectural projects. In addition, works from his "Architecture" series, a representative photography project that Sugimoto began in 1997, and which led him to begin his own research into Modernist architecture, will also be on display.
Models of Junya Ishigami's KAIT workshop at the Kanagawa Institute of Technology, completed in 2008, are also on display. Part of the university's campus redevelopment project, the workshop features 305 structural pillars, each with cross-sections and angles of varying proportions. By arranging the pillars in such a way as to make them appear random at first glance, Ishigami created an ambiguous sense of boundaries between neighboring spaces, leading to a remarkably open architecture with flexible connections and links within it.
This exhibition is part of a series entitled Architect Tokyo 2009, featuring works by architects that are being exhibited over the same period at 6 Tokyo contemporary art galleries.
[Image: Junya Ishigami, "Kanagawa Institute of Technology KAIT Workshop" (2008) Copyright Junya Ishigami, courtesy of Gallery Koyanagi]
2 minute walk from exit 7 at Ginza-itchome Station on the Yurakucho line. 3 minute walk from exit 3 at Kyobashi Station on the Ginza line. 6 minute walk from exit A9 at Ginza Station on the Ginza, Hibiya and Marunouchi lines.
No comments yet