A solo exhibition of architect Sou Fujimoto is underway at the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi, Tokyo. The show, highlighting over 30 years of work by the designer of the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo's Grand Ring, runs through November 9.
Architect Sou Fujimoto, 54, has drawn attention as the designer of the Grand Ring, the symbolic structure for the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo. His solo exhibition, "The Architecture of Sou Fujimoto: Primordial Future Forest," is on display at the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi, Tokyo, through November 9, featuring about 1,200 items including architectural models and sculptures.
"I’ve been aiming to show my respect for different individuals and create places where they can coexist and occasionally be connected," Fujimoto said. The first section, "Forest of Thoughts," symbolizes the show with harmonizing building models such as the 2006 Children’s Mental Health Center with box-shaped hiding spaces, the 2010 Musashino Art University Museum and Library with spiral bookshelves, and the 2019 French residential tower L’Arbre Blanc with branch-like balconies. Arranged chronologically, they highlight common multipurpose features.
Fujimoto's imagination stems from the rich nature of his hometown, Higashi-Kagura in Hokkaido. "[There’s] a feeling of security when surrounded by forest. But it’s not closed off, and there’s a sense of spaciousness and always being open," he described. After studying architecture at the University of Tokyo, where he was fascinated by the city's complex urban structure contrasting his rural roots, he skipped traditional office training to pursue his own ideas.
A turning point came in 2000 with second place in the Aomori Museum of Art design competition, launching his recognition and diverse projects at home and abroad. The exhibition's standout is a one-fifth scale model of the Grand Ring section, 4.1 meters tall, compared to the real structure's 20 meters high and 2 kilometers in circumference. "It may look like a simple shape, but there was never a moment when I spontaneously drew lines," Fujimoto said of his struggles.
His principle of "diverse and unified" architecture shines in sections like a Sendai complex with a concert hall and memorial for the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake victims, creating openness and intimacy. "My previous way of thinking has been growing gradually," he noted. Other highlights include a library curated by Yoshitaka Haba, a career timeline by architectural historian Shunsuke Kurakata, and a futuristic city depiction with data scientist Hiroaki Miyata.
The Grand Ring offers openness and unity, shielding visitors from rain and harsh sun. Amid social divisions, Fujimoto hopes, "If we create spaces where different individuals can resonate with each other, society will become even better."