The Age of Wood exhibition challenges conventional perceptions of timber
Furniture brand Karimoku has worked with design duo Christian + Jade on an exhibition that chronicles the vast spectrum of Japanese tree species and their "profound process of ageing".
The Age of Wood was the first exhibition to be held at The Archive, a vast concrete show space on the ground floor of the Karimoku Research Centre in Tokyo.
Spread over three floors, the industrial venue is where the brand says it finds ways to "survey, archive and innovate" the ways we live.
As part of this, Karimoku invited Copenhagen-based Christian + Jade to do a study of Japanese forests.
"Japan's unique geography has allowed its archipelago to host a diverse range of tree species," explained the pair, who carried out their investigations in wooded areas of the Gifu and Aichi prefectures.
"Showcasing the richness of Japan's woodlands became a key factor of the exhibition. We aimed to highlight the unique personalities and characteristics of each wood, while also reflecting the deep connection between these trees and the people who have lived alongside them for centuries."
The duo turned their findings into a series of sculptural installations. The main one, titled Library, is a gridded shelf system that showcases the barks, leaves and seeds of 63 species of Japanese wood.
"This allows visitors to physically engage with the material and better understand the natural diversity of Japan's forests," said the duo.
At the centre of the room is a piece called Touch, in which a pointed pendulum was suspended directly above a smooth slab of walnut wood.
The pendulum will gradually scratch and mark the slab's surface, allowing visitors to see it undergo physical change through time.
Another piece, called Sunlight, tests how UV light changes the appearance of cherry wood.
The Moisture installation, meanwhile, sees water sprayed onto a strip of Sugi wood on a triangular plinth, showing how environmental factors like humidity can impact the ageing process.
"These works challenge conventional perceptions of wood as a static material, turning it into a dynamic, living element that tells its own story," Christian + Jade said.
Standing at the rear of the room is a marquetry folding screen depicting six trees that have been integral to Japanese culture, as well as key developmental moments in the country's forest industry that have occurred over the last 40 years.
A platform that sits just underneath the room's expansive windows also displays a variety of wooden objects.
Among them is a cross-section from the trunk of a century-old cedar tree that stood in the Japanese city of Ninohe up until last year.
Its growth rings have been annotated with coinciding historical events, from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics to the Covid pandemic in 2020.
The Age of Wood is shortlisted in the exhibition design category of this year's Dezeen Awards.
Other contenders include the UAE Pavilion from Expo 2025 Osaka, which is filled with towering columns shaped to look like date palms, and Enfold, a pavilion from Dubai Design Week that was clad in 945 sheets of recycled cardboard.
The photography is courtesy of Bouillon.
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