The topic of the exhibition was mainly on the use and reuse of our natural resources, namely timber as a building material which our presentation focused on. As a leading designer of hospitality, we have a vested interest in the innovative and creative use of timber both architecturally and in interior design, thus we presented our intentions in assessing the current trends as well reflecting on its future potential use. This we feel is inherent considering the historical use of timber as integral element to our culture and geographical advantage of Japan as a soil rich country for the cultivation of forests.
Whilst our presentation was titled as “a path towards wood-friendly environment”
and explained both its design aesthetic and impetus towards its effective use based on our experience, working with various specialists in collaboration. We outlined the challenges of timber both in the form of its use and reuse in our constructed environment and practice (as wood is termed as timber once processed as a type of building material). By making use of the Japanese term for the word “bichiku” which refers to both “beauty” as well as “Provision” at the same time, we combined these two words, and exhibited our ambition as literally a “Wooden Road”.