Time Corridors
Kagawa
2022
2022
In my refurbishment of the café lounge overlooking the newly installed Glass Tea House Mondrian, I have preserved as many details as possible of the original Ando building while seeking to create sculptural furniture for the space.
First, a quick word about the three special woods I used for the furniture, all of which I came across quite recently.
Jindai Sugi Cedar Root
Jindai sugi(also known as a Jōmon sugi) are semi-fossilized Japanese cedars. This particular Jindai sugi stood in a primeval forest that was buried in 477 BCE when Mount Chōkai—a still-active volcano in northeast Japan—erupted violently, triggering an earthquake that in turn caused a sector collapse. This mighty tree was dug up only recently after spending over 2,400 years underground. It is estimated to have been 1,600 years old when it was engulfed, meaning that it first sprouted some 4,000 years ago. In other words, this Jindai sugi truly came to life in the prehistoric “Age of the Gods” (the literal meaning of jindai in Japanese).
Yakusugi Cedar Trunk
Japanese cedars grow to colossal dimensions under harsh conditions on the island of Yakushima, but the name Yakusugi is reserved for those that are over 1,000 years old. When Yakushima became a natural World Heritage site, the felling of trees on the island was prohibited. This particular tree, which was cut down quite a while ago, is around 1,500 years old. The interior is hollow as a result of the tree’s great age.
Tochi no Ki
(Japanese Horse Chestnut) Bark
Tochigi prefecture derives its name from the tochi no ki, or Japanese horse chestnut. This particular specimen grew in Tochigi and is reckoned to be 600 years old. The white rippling bark is beautiful.
Over the course of their lives, these three trees must have heard the songs of many different birds. Both as trees that grew in ancient times—4,000 years ago for the Jindai sugi cedar, 1,500 years ago for the Yakusugi cedar and 600 years ago for the Japanese horse chestnut—and now as sculptural tables here in the Sugimoto designed Lounge they embody the passage of time. In Time Corridors, the sense of traveling backward through time becomes a physical sensation. In the Japanese context, giant trees were worshipped as representations of the divine. I like to think that the Jindai sugi cedar was venerated by the Jōmon people, the Yakusugi by the Yayoi people and the Japanese horse chestnut by the people of the Muromachi period. The name I have coined for these trees is Sanshu no Jingi(“Three Sacred Trees”), a pun on Sanshu no Jingi(the Three Sacred Treasures, from the imperial regalia of Japan).
Hiroshi Sugimoto
First, a quick word about the three special woods I used for the furniture, all of which I came across quite recently.
Jindai Sugi Cedar Root
Jindai sugi(also known as a Jōmon sugi) are semi-fossilized Japanese cedars. This particular Jindai sugi stood in a primeval forest that was buried in 477 BCE when Mount Chōkai—a still-active volcano in northeast Japan—erupted violently, triggering an earthquake that in turn caused a sector collapse. This mighty tree was dug up only recently after spending over 2,400 years underground. It is estimated to have been 1,600 years old when it was engulfed, meaning that it first sprouted some 4,000 years ago. In other words, this Jindai sugi truly came to life in the prehistoric “Age of the Gods” (the literal meaning of jindai in Japanese).
Yakusugi Cedar Trunk
Japanese cedars grow to colossal dimensions under harsh conditions on the island of Yakushima, but the name Yakusugi is reserved for those that are over 1,000 years old. When Yakushima became a natural World Heritage site, the felling of trees on the island was prohibited. This particular tree, which was cut down quite a while ago, is around 1,500 years old. The interior is hollow as a result of the tree’s great age.
Tochi no Ki
(Japanese Horse Chestnut) Bark
Tochigi prefecture derives its name from the tochi no ki, or Japanese horse chestnut. This particular specimen grew in Tochigi and is reckoned to be 600 years old. The white rippling bark is beautiful.
Over the course of their lives, these three trees must have heard the songs of many different birds. Both as trees that grew in ancient times—4,000 years ago for the Jindai sugi cedar, 1,500 years ago for the Yakusugi cedar and 600 years ago for the Japanese horse chestnut—and now as sculptural tables here in the Sugimoto designed Lounge they embody the passage of time. In Time Corridors, the sense of traveling backward through time becomes a physical sensation. In the Japanese context, giant trees were worshipped as representations of the divine. I like to think that the Jindai sugi cedar was venerated by the Jōmon people, the Yakusugi by the Yayoi people and the Japanese horse chestnut by the people of the Muromachi period. The name I have coined for these trees is Sanshu no Jingi(“Three Sacred Trees”), a pun on Sanshu no Jingi(the Three Sacred Treasures, from the imperial regalia of Japan).
Hiroshi Sugimoto
