The Architecture of Sou Fujimoto at Mori Art Museum
Primordial Future Forest
All photos by Neoplus Sixten Inc.
The Architecture of Sou Fujimoto: Primordial Future Forest is on display at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo until November. It is the first major survey of Fujimoto's work. The Japan-Architects curators visited the exhibition, sending us photos of some of the many models, videos, sketches, and other objects on display.
The Architecture of Sou Fujimoto: Primordial Future Forest provides a comprehensive overview of Fujimoto's career in eight thematic sections, “covering everything from work in his early years to projects currently underway,” per Mori Art Museum, “and following his architectural journey over the past thirty years, the features of his architecture, and the philosophy behind it.” Aiming to be accessible to all museum visitors, not just architects, the objects on display include the usual models, plans, and photos, but also installations, large-scale models, mock-ups, and even stuffed toys. Known for the design of cultural cities, the exhibition also includes Fujimoto's collaborative proposal for a city of the future, “a new community paradigm” that is “a complex combination of spherical structures of various sizes.”
The curators of the Japan-Architects platform visited The Architecture of Sou Fujimoto for the opening, documenting their visit in a report that has even more photographs than what is provided below.
The Architecture of Sou Fujimoto: Primordial Future Forest is on display at Mori Art Museum in Tokyo from July 2 to November 9, 2025.
Visitors first encounter five small models when entering the exhibition, displayed without explanation. Sources of inspiration for Fujimoto, visitors parse their meaning as they move through the exhibition.
The first of the exhibition's eight sections, Forest of Thoughts, is a large-scale installation with more than 1,000 models, blueprints, and objects on Fujimoto's key projects.
The second section, Forest of Tracks – Chronology, features a timeline by architectural historian Kurakata Shunsuke that begins with Fujimoto's graduation from university in 1994 and reaches forward to projects scheduled for completion beyond 2030.
The third section, Book Lounge of Awai (In-Between), features 40 relevant books selected by Haba Yoshitaka and offers visitors a place to rest or read.
The fourth section, The Animated Forest, features models of a few projects animated by projections with moving figures (see the animations in the below video).
The fifth section, Open Circle, focuses on Fujimoto's Grand Ring for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai. Fujimoto developed the Expo master plan, and he designed the Grand Ring with Tohata Architects & Engineers and Azusa Sekkei.
This section features full-scale mock-ups that were used in the development of The Grand Ring.
There are also many sketches by Fujimoto from The Grand Ring's conceptual design phase.
The sixth section is Stuffed Architecture Talks, which features architectural works by Fujimoto represented as stuffed toys (made by Fujimoto's studio) that appear to be in conversation with each other.
This section also displays some of Fujimoto sketchbooks, spanning from his student days at the University of Tokyo until around 2017.
The seventh section, A Forest / Many Forests, provides an in-depth documentation of the design process for the International Center Station Northern Area Complex (Sendai), a multi-purpose complex with an estimated completion of 2031.
A large 1:15 scale model of the proposal hangs from the ceiling.
The eighth and last section is Forest of Future, Forest of Primordial – Resonant City 2025. It is a proposal for a futuristic city conceived by Fujimoto and data scientist Miyata Hiroaki. (Watch a portion of the immersive installation in the below video.)
Sou Fujimoto and Miyata Hiroaki at the opening of The Architecture of Sou Fujimoto: Primordial Future Forest.
