Setouchi Art and Industry 2026: Ryue Nishizawa
Japanese architect Ryue Nishizawa creates a vivid orange observation platform against a turquoise landfill in Ehime for Setouchi Art and Industry 2026.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Ryue Nishizawa builds a striking orange observation platform at Oono Development's managed landfill in Ehime Prefecture.
- The installation is part of the Setouchi Art and Industry 2026 festival, bringing art into active industrial sites.
- Visitors travel by bus while wearing distinctive red-orange workwear derived from a local Ehime mineral.
- Renowned curators and advisors, including Kazuyo Sejima, supervise the integration of art into the recycling complex.
Japanese architect Ryue Nishizawa, co-founder of SANAA alongside Kazuyo Sejima, has constructed an observation platform within a managed waste site operated by Oono Development in Toon, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. The installation transforms a normally restricted industrial landscape into an accessible site of observation, encouraging visitors to engage physically with modern infrastructure.
This project forms part of the inaugural Setouchi Art and Industry 2026, a decentralized festival that integrates art and architecture into seven active industrial facilities across Okayama and Ehime prefectures. These locations encompass salt production, textiles, denim, shipbuilding, battery storage, and resource recycling complexes.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
Curated by Kazuyo Sejima, the exhibition is hosted within an integrated recycling valley engineered into a vast waste disposal basin. Separated strictly from surrounding vegetation to prevent contamination, the landfill is projected to reach full capacity over approximately fifteen years. Its dynamic topography sets the stage for an exhibition that directs public attention toward infrastructural processes usually kept hidden from view.
Blending contemporary art and architecture with heavy industrial infrastructure like managed landfills challenges conventional perceptions of waste management sites. By introducing vibrant architectural interventions into functional industrial zones, the project prompts critical reflection on human consumption, material life cycles, and the hidden environmental systems that sustain modern society.
Visitors access the upper reaches of the site via designated buses while donning specialized red-orange workwear—a hue inspired by a natural mineral native to Ehime Prefecture. In addition to Nishizawa's platform, Shingo Masuda and Katsuhisa Otsubo designed gathering spaces and a bus stop, while Suzuko Yamada developed the visitor workwear and bus aesthetics. The exhibition is supervised by Kazuyo Sejima with advisors Yuko Hasegawa, Yusuke Okura, and Atsuhiro Miyake.
Source: designboom
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