Urban Woods | Yoshiaki Oyabu Architects

This installation is renovation project in Osaka, and it is parasitic on a tenant building, while raising commercial appeal to it. It brings ‘natural’ artifact into urban environment. So we turned a small-scale tenant building into a miniature forest. CONCEPT What does the unfortunate property developer do when he finds himself with a building with so little character that it discourages potential tenants? In this case, we arrived on the scene and wrapped the building – which occupies a street corner in Osaka – in an eye-catching envelope. Composed of 450 cypress timbers, this dynamic construction scales the steel-framed building like a vast creeping vine. The installation gives the building a charismatic air while boosting the appearance of the entire neighborhood. Three species of real climbing plants weave in and out of the wooden ‘scaffolding’ like pretty parasites: the leaves of one plant change color, another species produces flowers, and the third emits a delicious fragrance. We turned this small-scale tenant building into a miniature forest. This parasitic installation provides the urban streetscape with a relaxing element, similar to roadside trees, while activating the environment. COMMERCIAL The 21st century is the age when economy and environment need to live together. But now, nature is not sustainable without protection of humans. Therefore people should approach nature and its providence more. And we pursued a possibility of human works which fit this age in the city. And it provides the urban streetscape with a relaxing element, similar to road-side trees, while activating the environment. Therefore the concept that we thought about is ‘Parasitic Installation’ to get in a commercial building. While this installation is parasitic on a tenant building, it raises commercial appeal to the building. ‘Urban Trellis’ that is the technique of the concept brings natural artifact into urban environment. The artifact is tied to plants such as the ivy that produces flowers, and emits a delicious fragrance. So it makes a miniature forest in the urban context. 142 We have shared with you images of URBAN WOODS, a parasitic installation as renovation project in Osaka, Japan. Situated adjacent to an exceptionally wide and busy road in the city, the design seeks to introduce the concept of ‘ART-NATURE’ into the urban context while raising commercial appeal to the tenant building.