Serpent Lady

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This is a land art project in Toga, Toyama Prefecture, Japan. The site is a vacant land with no artifacts between a mountain and river. And it used to be a river, but it has been reclaimed and is now in its current state. There are many insects and animals when before there were aquatic creatures.
The artwork is a land art project, but they also consider it as landscape project. So, they installed strong geometric shape in a vacant land to create order. The intention was for the place to develop around this shape.
They wanted people who experiences the space to respect the earth in a wild natural place. Life is born from the earth and lives on the earth that has energy, strength and kindness. By digging a hole in the ground and giving people a different perspective, they make them aware of the earth and nature usually found beneath their feet.
First they excavated a vast area, inserting an architectural structure that could resist the pressure of the earth, and then they filled it, until only the colors emerged from the ground.
Then they put meaning to the art as “serpent”. Serpent, as often appears in mythology is a symbol of life and death, and they are sure that these were previously present when the site was a river. The strong space, the object lives as a Mother Earth goddess in the site, like the Serpent to express the strength of the earth.
Beneath the surface of the earth, we stand on is Mother Earth. Wear a snake skirt. Swim the earth. Grab the mountain. Here in Toga, many lives coexist with people and live with the earth. This is a landscape space that reconstructs new relationships with the earth and its life.

Project details

Design: Hajime Yoshida Architecture
Project Location: Toga, Toyama Prefecture, Japan
Typology: Land art
Design year: 2023
Built: 2023

Hajime Yoshida Architecture

Hajime Yoshida Architecture

Hajime Yoshida design everything related to architecture, taking advantage of the experience overseas, the pride of being Japanese that he realized by looking at Japan from the outside, and the sensibility nurtured by the rich climate of Toyama, his hometown. 
He aspire to present progressive designs that respect history and connect it to the future. He want to create comfortable, beautiful and rich spaces. 
Every project has various given conditions such as the client’s request, vision, budget, function, site, cultural and historical background. Designing is also about embracing them, giving “form” and “material” to the client’s thoughts, and creating a new “landscape” in the environment.