Heatherwick Studio is announcing a solo exhibition at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo. This will be the studio’s first show in Japan, opening on 17 March 2023 and running for eleven weeks until 4 June at Tokyo City View. Curated by the celebrated Mami Kataoka, formerly of the Hayward Gallery in London, the exhibition will showcase 28 of the studio’s most iconic designs including a full-scale model of Airo, the car that cleans the air as it drives, as well as a selection of mechanised spun chairs for visitors to enjoy as part of the experience.
The exhibition will be divided into six sections exploring the idea of soulfulness, which permeates the studio’s design philosophy. They range from ‘Coming Together’ and ‘Connecting with Everyone’ to ‘Experiencing Sculptural Space’ and ‘Feeling Nature in Urban Space’. Each one delves into the creative approach and process that the studio applies to each project no matter what the scale or budget.
To create an immersive experience, large-scale images will hang from the ceiling, forming a staggered backdrop to the physical content and video displays. This will provide the visitor with an explorable route through the projects, giving a variety of vistas and viewpoints that evoke the three-dimensionality of the studio’s work.
As part of the celebration of craftsmanship, the show will feature models and material samples as well as mock-ups of the studio’s designs. There will be a light-up model of the UK Pavilion designed for the Shanghai Expo and Friction, the studio’s expanding table which transforms from a smooth circle to a 4m long ellipsis.