In the architecture studios, the hand-produced models represent invaluable instruments for processing the thought-trains, becoming the concrete and personalized testimony of the arrangement development process of each individual creative.

The Archi Depot Foundation will create its own museum as a communal space, ideal for conserving and managing the architectonic models prepared by Japanese designers. The association also has the objective of organizing events and activities using the models to stimulate understanding in the relationship between architecture and the urban or natural environments, and highlight the importance and value of architecture for the local communities.

The exhibition organized by Archi Depot at the Triennale di Milano can be described as the first step in this direction. The exhibition design – supervised by Setsu & Shinobu ITO of Studio ITO Design – reflects the principles and the key features of the Archi Depot museum and archives that will open in Shinagawa in Tokyo, Japan in the near future.

Using models created by a wide variety of Japanese architects – including Kengo Kuma, Tetsuo Furuichi, Shigeru Ban, Arata Isozaki, Koh Kitayama, Rike Yamamoto – with the core of the exhibition focusing on works by the younger generations, Archi Depot Tokyo Exhibition explores the visions of the architects and the enchanting qualities of their architecture, in order to transmit the important of the country’s past and its architectural heritage.

The exhibition is part of the initiatives organized for the Japan Day (July 11), the official day for representing Japan at the Expo Milano 2015, with Japan’s State authorities coming to Milan.