competition -- kameyama arcade

COMPETITION WINNING ENTRY

a competition winning entry for an arcade along a shopping street in an area called kameyama in the mie prefecture of japan.  while the submitted design is for the arcade, the actual piece will be located inside a large, nearby wood factory.

along the arcade of a shopping street in kameyama, the arched form of "火垂の森" sits just under the rafters of the existing arcade and interacts with pedestrians walking below.  the project's name in english can either mean "forest of fireflies" or "forest of dropping fire" as the word for firefly can be written in a variety of ways.  the night lighting of the forest also can be seen as either the gentle light of a firefly or that of a candle-lit lantern dropping down from above as the light glows stronger in response to the movement of people below.  wherever people gather, the light is a little brighter, and during festivals when people amass in a much greater number the forest will be alive with continually undulating light like that of a forest full of fireflies.


an additionally type of change is born along the arcade as the bottom curve reacts to the surrounding area.  where shop activity and people are often present, the curve become more excited and waving.  however when shops are not present and people are fewer, the bottom curve becomes flat.  additionally, the curve responds to other external factors such as rising at the area of a sidewalk.

kameyama is located, as mentioned above, in the mie prefecture of japan, of which, forest accounts for two-thirds of the land.  as such, the rafters of 火垂の森 are made from thin cedar planks collected from nearby land.  this allows the shops and residents to contribute to not only the arcade use, but also to the local foresting industry.