（日本語は以下に続きます）

This spatial design began with a request to install Straft’s work TORI in the courtyard of an office space in Tokyo. Enclosed by glass doors and filled with natural light from above, the space was conceived as a quiet, altar-like setting in which TORI would be enshrined.

In response to a request to introduce a flow of water into the space, a self-contained stream system was installed and covered in plaster. By integrating it into the wall behind TORI, water appears to spring from beneath the work, forming a narrow stream that runs through the space.

Along the stream, benches made from stacked timber beams were placed on either side, their backs lined with straw as though extending from the two wings of TORI. Stones and a small amount of aquatic vegetation form a sparse river landscape reminiscent of an oasis in an arid terrain. Above it hangs a custom-made light with a glass shade containing tiny air bubbles, adding a quiet glow that gently accompanies the shifting light and shadow of the natural daylight throughout the day.

The mythic presence of TORI seems to extend beyond this roughly 3.5-metre-square space, evoking a landscape that continues far beyond its physical boundaries and a sense of time unfolding on a vast scale. As water, light, and plants come together, a form of dialogue emerges among those who share the space—one carried not only through words, but through bodily and sensory experience.

Precisely because this is a space used in everyday life, the intention was not to create an overwhelming impression, but to give value to the subtle phenomena composed by nature: the shifting of light, the sound of water, and other small changes. TORI quietly watches over these modest departures from the everyday as they enter our daily lives and begin to emerge from within us. (Yusuke Nagai)

都内のとあるオフィススペースの中庭へ、Straftの作品《TORI》を設置する依頼から始まった空間設計。ガラス戸に囲まれ、天井から自然光が降り注ぐ空間に、《TORI》が祀られた、ひそやかな祭壇のような場を誂えた。

空間内に水の流れをつくりたいという要望のもと、独立型の渓流装置を設置し、左官で覆う。それを壁面と一体化させることで、《TORI》の足元から水が湧き出し、細い川となって空間を流れていくような景色が浮かび上がる。

川の流れに沿って、両側に据えた柱材のベンチ。その背には、《TORI》の両翼から連なるよう、藁を施す。石とわずかな水生植物による、乾燥地帯のオアシスを思わせる川の上に、空気の泡を含んだガラスシェードの特注照明を吊り下げ、時間とともに移ろう自然光の明暗を、そっと支える灯りを添えた。

《TORI》が持つ、神話性を帯びた存在感は、およそ3.5メートル四方のこの空間を越えて、その先へ延びていく風景と、悠久の時間の流れを漂わせる。水や光、植物が結び合わさることで、そこに居合わせる人々の間には、言葉だけではない、身体的な感覚を伴った対話が生まれていく。

日常的に使われる空間だからこそ、強烈な印象を与えることよりも、自然が織りなす光や音、その些細な現象をこそ尊ぶ場にしたい。日々のなかに差し込むささやかな非日常が、自分たちの内側から立ち上がってくる様を、《TORI》は静かに見守ってくれている。（永井祐介）