Artificial Topography

PHOTOS: Masahiro Hoshida and Ryumei Fujiki

Ryumei Fujiki’s ‘Artificial Topography’ is both a giant piece of furniture and an artwork.

This cave-like structure (which won the Grand Prize of Art in the Container International Competition at the Kobe Biennial in Japan this year) was designed to create an amorphous space inspired by nature.

Not only is ‘Artificial Topography’ fascinating to look at, it can also be used as seating. Users are invited to crawl and find a spot that best fits the curves of their body.

The cave-like design is made from about 1000 sheets of soft plastic material with a thickness of 10mm. These sheets were then cut down in a contour line form and laminated to look like strata.

Ryumei, who is well know for his ‘Aqua-scape: The Nature-orientated Architecture of Ryumei Fujiki’ exhibition continues exploring his fascination with nature in Artificial Topography, which he says is especially concerned with the ground.