In close collaboration with pedevilla architects, Atelier Andrea Gassner developed a wayfinding system that renders the semantics and playfulness of the ornament visually tangible. The “cross motif” serves as a design ornament within the architecture and is derived from the region’s historical and traditional craftsmanship. The typographic system was further “stitched” using cross-stitch patterns. The signage oscillates between two- and three-dimensionality. The rough, porous plaster with its warm color tonality is contrasted in the interior spaces by the materialization of the custom-produced letters, numerals, and icons, while simultaneously being accentuated through pearl copper as the primary color. Through lighting and three-dimensional execution, enchanting patterns emerge in the interplay of light and shadow. The large-scale building signage is precisely milled into the wooden slats of the façade cladding. The ornament, as a system of signage, never appears as superfluous decoration but rather as an effective interweaving of narrative and architecture. The theme of the cross and cross-stitch is consistently continued at the entrances and façades.

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.

The commission for this special exhibition on the occasion of EXPO 2025 was to draw attention to the remarkable development of timber architecture in Austria, presented within the popular cultural setting of the Nakanoshima Museum of Art in Osaka. We call the installation "verywood – Austrian Architecture Today."

The basic idea is to merge traditional Japanese paper folding art with the tectonics of contemporary timber architecture using new, planar wood-based materials—and to scale this fusion into a spatial experience. The wooden sculptures unfold in three sequences, alluding to the liveliness of the material. The magic of the breathing form thus merges with the beauty and flexibility of modern wood materials—their aesthetics, lightness, malleability, and structural strength. It is a coherent expression of the message suited to this occasion and space.

In addition to this key visual, interested viewers will find a selection of 26 current examples of modern timber architecture and statements from the architects, curated by Verena Konrad and Hermann Kaufmann, presented on three monitors and the exhibition website.

Wood is in motion. New wood-based materials are continually being researched and developed. Now is the time to reconnect with this globally renowned tradition of building with wood and to lead the constructive design, planning, and building with wood into the future. The goal was to avoid conventional industry marketing and instead give this new cultural building movement with wood the recognition and dignity it deserves.

Art objects created by Andrea Gassner

How is that even supposed to work? Presenting the astonishing renaissance of Austrian timber construction in Japan? And doing so in one of Osaka’s most renowned art temples, while simultaneously promoting cross-cultural knowledge exchange in this field? 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.

The objects are accompanied by floor-standing monitors displaying video loops with relevant architectural references and statements from leading figures in contemporary timber construction in Austria. Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen and his delegation visited the special exhibition at the Nakanoshima Museum of Art in Osaka at the end of May 2025. The exhibition is titled verywood – Austrian Architecture Today.