verywood – Austrian Architecture Today
Austrian Architecture Today in Shibaura House, Tokyo
| Title | verywood – Austrian Architecture Today |
|---|---|
| Year | 2025 |
| Client | VAI – Verena Konrad Hermann Kaufmann |
| Curators | Hermann Kaufmann and Verena Konrad |
| Concept / Spatial sculpture / Design | Atelier Andrea Gassner |
| Consultants Naming and Content | Reinhard Gassner, Roland Jörg |
| Constuctive Planning | HK Architekten |
| Static / Producing | Fetz Holzbau |
| Editorial Cooperation | proHolz Austira |
| Photography | Toru Kobayashi |
after Osaka, the verywood installation is traveling to Tokyo. On September 9, the vernissage will take place at SHIBAURA HOUSE in Tokyo – an architectural icon by Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA. It is a great honor to exhibit with verywood – Austrian Architecture Today in this unique, light-filled space. The exhibition runs until September 23, 2025.
Art objects created by Andrea Gassner
How is that even supposed to work? Presenting the astonishing renaissance of Austrian timber construction in Japan? It’s slowly making its way into international awareness: the so-called “forest-building pump” could become one of the vital lifelines in the urgent search for solutions to halt the catastrophic effects of climate change.
Andrea Gassner’s artistic intervention is tailor-made for this complex subject – and perfectly suited for presentation to the target audience of one of Japan’s most prestigious contemporary art venues. She created expansive folding objects made from slender three-layer boards, each in one of three different stages of unfolding. These nearly “floating figures” evoke the unique aesthetics and vibrancy of wood, its lightness, and the precision of assembling planar high-tech materials. It’s no coincidence that Andrea Gassner draws upon the well-known Japanese art of origami. After all, paper is ultimately derived from wood. With this formal reference, the designer establishes a dialogue between Japanese and Austrian art and culture.
