They did what? That’s right: they made a walkable floating pier from 100,000 sq meters of fabric; they’re building a church that’s 1.35 meters wide and 45 meters high; they made a cave entirely out of tape; they made an inflatable concert hall; he spent 96 hours creating a mural from mud. These are just some of the dynamic projects by Japanese and international artists that have been assembled for an ambitious exhibition at Tokyo’s 21_21 Design Sight.

Grand Projects: How Far Will You Go” opens tomorrow (June 23) at Tokyo’s 21_21 Design Sight. Directed by writer and editor Naoko Aono, the exhibition will honor the daring and the ambitious: “creators who give shape to their bold and innovative ideas that transcend existing modes of expressions.”

One reason that we are so fascinated by grand and over-the-top creativity is because of the many challenges they present: unending regulatory challenges, financial challenges, technical challenges and variable social circumstances. Then there is the meticulous planning and vast cooperation from others.

Obviously not all projects will be represented by the actual work. The Architect Junya Ishigami is not going to relocate his in-progress church that’s being built inside the ravine of a mountain. Christo and Jeanne-Claude are not bringing their floating pier, along with Lake Iseo, to Tokyo. These projects will be represented by photo-documentation, sketches and video. But Yusuke Asai did spend 96 hours creating a mud mural, Tatzu Nishino did install a series of capsule hotels within the gallery that will be functional, and art collective Numen/For Use did create a cavernous installation made from vinyl tape.

If you’re in Tokyo it’s worth checking out. “Grand Projects: How Far Will You Go” will run from June 23 – October 1, 2017.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s Floating Piers

Interviews, video documentation, sketches and photographs of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s ambitious Floating Piers project from 2016.


Junya Ishigami’s Church of the Valley

Architect Junya Ishigami is currently building a 1.35 x 45 m (4.4 x 148 ft) church inside the ravine of a mountain in China’s Shandong province. The ultra-narrow project will be on display in the form of architectural models.


Numen/For Use’s Tape Tokyo 02

The Croatian/Austrian Design Collaborative Numen/For Use blends architecture and public installation art. For this show they’ve used lengths of transparent film and sticky tape to create a network of hollows and tunnels.


Yusuke Asai’s Journey of Mud

Artist Yusuke Asai has been traveling the world creating murals from local mud, dirt and whatever else he can scavenge. For this exhibition he’s returned to Tokyo to create an exhaustive mural that took 96 consecutive hours to paint. It was done with mud that he’s collected from his travels, combined with mud from the local Tokyo Midtown area.


The World’s First Inflatable Concert Hall

In 2013, Japanese architect Arata Isozaki teamed up with British-Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor to create an inflatable concert hall. Dubbed Arc Nova, the mobile venue toured the earthquake and tsunami-ravaged areas of Tohoku.

Material samples, sketches,blueprints and video documentation will be on display.


Georges Rousse’s Tokyo 2017

French artist Georges Rousse will present a site-specific installation (seen below) that presents a geometric optical illusion.

Tatzu Nishi’s Capsule Hotel 21

Tatzu Nishi, known for his large-scale public art projects, will transform the space’s brand new Gallery 3 (previously the restaurant) into a series of capsule hotels.

Visitors will be able to spend the night inside them.