The Kobe Biennale 2011 is in full-swing until November 23. The theme of this year’s proceedings is kira, or “sparkle,” chosen to focus the Biennale’s works on the “undiscovered gems of beauty in the natural environment and the lifestyles and artistic outlooks” of the Japanese city.

Crater Lake — designed and built by 24° Studio – is one of 21 harbor-side installations meant to promote the under-used port area of Kobe as part of the Biennale’s kira theme. We spoke with principle Fumio Hirakawa about how the form was generated and built. Read on.

The project was constructed entirely from wood 2×4 studs - by hand. That’s rare, for a project whose form was clearly derived through digital softwares. Says Hirakawa, “As much as we wanted to utilize digital fabrication methods of CNC, the cost for using the equipment was beyond our reach.  Therefore, they were done by manual labor using several power tools of electric saws and sanders.”

According to Hirakawa, Crater Lake’s sloping geometries were created using Rhino 4 and Maya 2011. Considering its complex formalism, why wood? “We considered several options of materials (e.g. bamboo, straw, wood…) and tested these options in 3D software.  Based on budget, scheduling, labor, and various possible optimization, we found that the 2×4 and 30x60cm planks was the best solution.  All the stud/plank cuts, length, angles were figured out and generated by Rhino and Maya, which then we produced a shop drawings.”

There are 20 other installations on view alongside Crater Lake – all winners of the Shitsurai Art International Competition. Po-ai Shiosai Park, where the interventions are sited, is an 800 meter harborside park to the west side of the man-made Port Island.

More on the project here.

by Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan

posted in New Projects

tagged 24° Studio, crater lake, installations, japan, kobe, kobe biennale 2011

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