The concept of the MUJI Pavilion revolves around two main elements: Firstly, we draw inspiration from MUJI's brand philosophy of "Nature, Naturally & MUJI" and integrate MUJI's minimalist belief into the design. It's not simply about removing excess decorations to achieve visual simplicity but rather about creating an ultimate "emptiness" that embodies purity without any constraints on usage methods or product imagery. Secondly, considering the exhibition industry's significant resource waste, we feel a responsibility towards environmental protection. Thus, we aim to create a better world through sustainable design practices. Hence, we have crafted the MUJI Pavilion, an eco-friendly exhibition space that invites visitors to co-create, a pavilion that can be taken home and utilized, and an emptied pavilion that still fosters limitless creativity and a better way of life.
The MUJI Pavilion is a showcase project that diverges entirely from traditional exhibition concepts. Comprising 7,524 wooden components, the pavilion undergoes constant evolution over its six-day exhibition period. A total of 1,254 visitors to the MUJI Pavilion take pieces of it home, resulting in an ongoing transformation. The materials taken become integrated into participants' lives as part of a functional storage system, continuing their existence beyond the exhibition. This project serves as a conduit for promoting environmental ideals and practicing sustainable living.
The main materials of the MUJI Eco-Pavilion are environmentally friendly wood, recycled ocean plastic, biodegradable agricultural materials, and reusable metal. The wooden components of the pavilion's walls will be taken away by 1254 visitors and reassembled into a home storage system that matches the dimensions of MUJI's existing furniture. Every participating visitor will become a co-builder of this project, bringing sustainable concepts into their lives, and this storage system design also embodies the brand concept of MUJI in the extremely wasteful exhibition industry.
Project awards:
A' Design Award Platinum Prize、Milan Design Award Gold Prize、Berlin Design Award Gold Prize、ADC Design Awards 2024 Bronze Cube
In 2023, during the China International Import Expo , we especially designed a pavilion which consisted of 7,524 interlocking wooden components. This is the exclusive pavilion for MUJI, dedicated to brand spirit: Nature, Naturally & MUJI. During the 6-day exhibition, as the pavilion wall transitioned from existence to non-existence, 1,254 visitors to the MUJI pavilion took away the screen system. After the dismantling of the wall, the wooden components will be reassembled into a set of storage systems suitable for home use. Moreover, these components are designed to seamlessly match the dimensions of MUJI's existing furniture cabinets. Each participating visitor is the co-creator of this project, bringing the concept of sustainability into their lives. The design of this storage system also implements the MUJI’s Brand concept of “Nature, Naturally & MUJI”. It is well interpreted in the exhibition industry, where resource waste is extremely serious. The design of the MUJI Eco-Pavilion is a rare example in the Chinese exhibition industry of practicing sustainable design from the aspects of design, structural production, construction, and dismantling. It not only applies environmentally friendly and natural materials but also for the design of conventional exhibition that considers how to make normal construction materials exist in a new way from the beginning, and makes construction waste "turn waste into treasure" to become the daily life storage products of the audience.
Currently, the traditional exhibition industry is highly wasteful in terms of materials and is largely unsustainable in its day-to-day construction practices. We aim to gradually change this business model through our design and philosophy. By introducing more products with sustainable design principles, we seek to replace commonly used materials in the industry. This approach not only enhances design quality but also effectively reduces resource wastage within the exhibition industry.
Atelier FORTH FORCE, the core artistic label under Shanghai Tan Gen Cultural Communication Co., Ltd., was initiated and founded by Sun Chenzhu in 2016. It is a diverse artistic aesthetic organization driven by design. The team focuses on interdisciplinary experiments and practical projects in art and design, rooted in contemporary thinking and drawing nourishment from the times to shape content, events, exhibitions, and projects with multi-dimensional cultural value. We believe that if physics is the ultimate tool to explore the mysteries of the universe, then the limits of aesthetics must also originate from physics. Based on this perspective, we choose to approach from the micro perspective of art, interpreting "fun" things through communicative means, and exploring the "limits of aesthetics."