Wooden Byobu. From Architectural Façade to Sculpture

The Japanese Pavilion at EXPO Milano 2015, designed by Atsushi Kitagawara, has been visited by millions of people with a great success, especially for its stunning wooden façade. Its naked structure is defined by only one element, a 12 × 12 cm section, whose larch came from Fukushima region, to show the health of the forest after the terrible Tsunami. The façade was conceived with studs, connected without any screws or nails, thanks to the “compressive-tension” effect, whose concept interprets old Japanese wooden-based techniques of constructions and even handcrafts of complex wooden toys. Analogic mock-ups and parametric models have defined the entire design phase, leading to a simple form as the end of a complex research path. The wooden structure was, then, elaborated and produced through CNC processes, built for EXPO Milano 2015, and dismantled after the event. A new life of this concept is becoming an art object: the Byobu. This is a traditional separating screen in Japanese houses, something that creates space and multiple possibilities. Thus, the structural concept of EXPO Milano 2015 turns into several variations for different places: University Byobu at Politecnico di Milano, Urban Byobu at Farm Cultural Park in Sicily, Forest Byobu at Arte Sella, near Trento, and finally Museum Byobu—Kigumi Infinity at Mori Art Museum in Tokyo. All these examples leave a memory of a stunning structure, conceived to be temporary for EXPO Milano 2015, now visible in several places between Italy and Japan.