Appreciate art in Azabudai Hills

2024.01.29

Azabudai Hills: The Entire Town as a Museum

Azabudai Hills is not just a hub for commercial facilities and offices; it is also characterized by a strong emphasis on art. Beyond placing public art and exhibiting works by acclaimed artists in galleries, the digital art teamLab has relocated from Odaiba to Azabudai Hills.

Exhibition of Public Art by Yoshitomo Nara

Azabudai Hills showcases public art in spaces where people gather, creating a harmonious atmosphere. On display are works such as Yoshitomo Nara’s “Children in the Forest of Tokyo” (2023), Jean Wang’s “Artificial Rock. No.109” (2015), and Yutaka Sone’s “Last Night of the Stone Age” (2017/2023).

Azabudai Hills Public art　Yoshitomo Nara — Left: Yoshitomo Nara’s Children in the Forest of Tokyo (2023)

Enjoy a Meal at Café Linked with Gallery

At the heart of Azabudai Hills’ art scene is the Azabudai Hills Gallery and its accompanying Azabudai Hills Gallery Café. The café offers collaboration menus tailored to exhibitions and events, as well as pop-up store. An interesting exhibition featured was “Olafur Eliasson: A harmonious Cycle of Interconnected Nows” (November 24, 2023, to March 31, 2024). Olafur, a Copenhagen-born artist renowned for large-scale installations using light and water, is actively engaged in environmental issues. The exhibition includes works like “Your Split Second House,” and eco-friendly products based on ecological principles are also available for purchase.

In the adjoining café, Studio Olafur Eliasson Kitchen located in Olafur’s studio in Berlin offers its arranged regular menu in special buffet-style incorporating Japanese cuisine and fermentation culture.

olafur kitchen — Special menu incorporating Japanese cuisine and fermentation culture

TeamLab’s Relocation and Powering Up with New Creations

In early February 2024, the “Mori Building Digital Art Museum: teamLab Borderless” will open in Azabudai Hills, having relocated from Odaiba. In November, they unveiled new works including “Bubble Universe: Physical Light, Bubbles of Light, Wobbling Light, and Environmental Light,” “Flowers and People – Megalith Crystal Formation,” and “Black Waves – Megalith Crystal Formation.”

In “Bubble Universe,” countless spheres emit light. When people stand near a sphere, the closest one shines brightly, producing sound and transmitting light to the nearest sphere. “Flowers and People – Megalith Crystal Formation” depicts eternal cycles of birth and decay of flowers. In “Black Waves – Megalith Crystal Formation,” the visitors feel as if their body is floating, as waves with life-like movements are drawn in space.