With an interplay of light and shadow, water and stone, Isamu Noguchi’s three-tiered indoor stone garden plaza in Tokyo’s Sogetsu Building is an undeniably extraordinary space. Titled Tengoku (Heaven) and built in 1978, the plaza concept was ahead of its time as a commission from Sofu Teshigahara, the founder of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana.
With an unassuming yet incredibly complex design and almost entirely made of varying granite surface textures, the stone garden sees a juxtaposition of both organic hand-shaped forms to sharp, linear machine-sculpted compositions.
Here, the articulation of water, light and space have been carefully considered as they work in harmony together to elevate the other. Find delicate water passages intertwined amongst NoguchiÕs spiral-shaped ceramic sculptures, and for the first time, AMBUSH¨ AUTUMN / WINTER 2021 MENÕS + WOMENÕS COLLECTION garments, jewellery and accessories interwoven amongst the space.
As the water trickles through the granite levels, find AMBUSH’s coats leather bags and boots resting on carved stone surfaces with jewellery glistening in the abundant natural light — a rare and perfect match of contemporary design and sculptural architecture together in harmony.
"Flowers are beautiful, but Ikebana is not necessarily so. When arranged, flowers become something else; once arranged, flowers become human."
Sofu Teshigahara
AMBUSH® AUTUMN / WINTER 2021
MEN’S + WOMEN’S COLLECTION PRESENTATION
Location: Sogetsu Plaza, Tokyo, Japan
Images: Koji Ueda
Text: Joanna Kawecki