| Design for the installation of
symbolic trees along the Joshinetsu Highway, in the last section of the
newly opened highway, between Nakagou and Jouetsu. The Symbol Tree design
project, stand for the unified image of the flow from the mountain range
of Gunma and Nagano to the seaside of Niigata. Every 5 km metasequoia
trees are planted in a row, to express the symbolic distance to the sea.
One could also say a modern version of milestones. From the mountainside
to the seaside the metasequoia trees are getting less. From five trees
in row in Nakagou to only a single tree in Jouetsu. |
|
Through the repetitive appearance of the
metasequoia tree and their altering amount, the rich nature that links
the seaside with the mountainside is successfully put into scene. Under
the metasequoia trees are black curbs, seamed with white sand, to raise
the symbolical meaning. Instead of designing the new scenery of the highway
that crosses the beautiful landscape with big artificial structures that
disturb the harmony, plants, stones and gravel, elements of nature, were
used for the new scenery design. To take in elements from the surrounding
nature, that allows communication between the manmade and the natural,
is considered as new landscape design. |
