The Gramazio Kohler research group from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) and the Obuchi Lab – T_ADS from the University of Tokyo are exhibiting an installation at the architectural project Collaborative Constructions. The project in the municipal pottery studio in the Japanese city of Tokoname was launched at the initiative of the two universities and the Swiss embassy in Japan.
It is the first project from Vitality.Swiss, the Swiss program for public diplomacy, in the run up to Expo 2025 in Osaka. The exhibition is being held across several cities of the Aichi Prefecture as part of the Aichi Triennial Art Festival. According to an embassy post on LinkedIn, it was officially opened on the occasion of Swiss National Day on August 1 and is open to the public until October 10.
Under the leadership of Matthias Kohler and Fabio Gramazio, Gramazio Kohler Research presents a three-story timber frame structure that breathes new life into the storied past of skilled timber construction in Japan through Swiss design and technology. It reinterprets carpentry in the age of robotics, without the use of metal parts, nails, screws or fasteners. The group’s work has been exhibited at the Pompidou Centre, the Venice Biennale and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, among other locations.
The Obuchi Lab – T_ADS, headed up by Yusuke Obuchi, exhibits a gate-like structure with numerous pottery chains through which mist dampens the surfaces of the pottery and cools down the air. These were created through human-machine interactions. Obuchi projects explore innovative, inclusive and collaborative construction methods and are world-renowned for their creative use of technology.
