The inexorable rise of Tokyo Sky Tree on the city's skyline has once again raised the question of what a future Tokyo might look like. The exhibition "Sousuke Fujimoto Architects: Future Visions — Forest, Cloud, Mountain" at the Watarium Museum attempts to get people thinking along these lines, while at the same time introducing them to the work of Sousuke Fujimoto, an up-and-coming architect who is fast making a name for himself in the world of architecture.
If you're already thinking, "Not another architecture exhibition!" and mentally picturing a neat but uninspiring arrangement of models and plans, then prepare to be pleasantly surprised, because Fujimoto has created a breathtaking exhibition that is more akin to modern art than architecture. This is all the more remarkable because he has done so with nothing more than several hundred interlocking tubes of clear plastic and thousands of bits of Styrofoam — and, yes, plenty of architectural models, but presented in a most unexpected way.
"I wanted other people besides architects to enjoy the exhibition," the architect tells The Japan Times. "Also, I wanted to physically express the fun of having an idea in architecture, not just lots of architectural plans and models in the conventional way. The Watarium Museum has a characteristic space, so it was a good hint in making the exhibition."