TORAFU ARCHITECTS

We performed the venue layout for the “Yasutaka Tsutsui Exhibition” to be held by the Setagaya Literary Museum. This represents the first large scale exhibition for Yasutaka Tsutsui, an avant-garde author who is unconventional in every way. No effort has been spared to put on a show, and we sought to enact a three-dimensional exhibition space that displays the worldview of his works while also maintaining a live feeling unique to active authors.

Because the themes and genres of his works are timeless and eclectic in how they intersect, we introduced a timeline placed on a time axis as the core of the exhibition configuration rather than doing a thematic exhibition. The timeline, engraved on 69 sheets of luwan plywood, is represented by a single brush stroke line that changes height as it travels along the exhibition venue. The layout was elaborated with graphics made by TAKAIYAMA.inc.

While some works are entertaining and easy to appreciate by the general public, there also exist many works with highly taboo elements and experimental works that are unpredictable. This duality was expressed using the front and back of the panel with the colorful timeline printed directly on the plywood foundation and basic tone of the black graphic on the back. Walking forward while reading the timeline allows you to experience the venue’s two parallel worlds of front and back where the 9mm-thick plywood becomes a boundary line that visually connects the space seperated by the panel through the peep holes and openings placed here and there.

By summarizing the enormous amount of information on a thin panel and connecting it along a single line, we aimed to create an exhibition space that would allow vsitors to feel both sides of the unique worldview of Yasutaka Tsutsui.