This publication is part of architect Kei Kaihoh’s exhibit at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2021.
In the form of a card set, “Melting Landscape” presents 53 sketches with related infos, explanations and ideas written on the back of each card.

“What does snow mean to the people living in Yasuzuka, and to us? Why do people live in heavy snowfall areas? How to understand the harshness and beauty of snow?”

Snow is always full of contradictions and complexities. This project will explore the possibility of coexistence between people and snow by approaching the true nature of snow through images created by video director Tomoko Mikanagi.

This project will also convert the pavilion into a snow storage by creating a large pile of snow using snow brought from the mountains of Italy, to develop new ways of using snow and research new technologies to apply to snow. The snow mountain is a collaboration with snow engineer Yoshiomi Ito, and the observation and analysis using a temperature and humidity meter is a collaboration with the Department of Environmental Science and Policy of the University of Milan.

Through this project, we will explore the possibility of using existing buildings with inadequate insulation as snow storages in the future in heavy snowfall areas such as Yasuzuka.”
— from the artist’s statement

Kei Kaihoh (b. 1982)
The theme of Kaihoh’s works is the design of a common ground between people’s immediate environments and the environments and phenomena beyond human awareness. His projects involve a large variety of scales, from product and space design to large-scale visionary concepts. Recent projects include the “‘Yukinohako’ Joetsu City Snow Storage Facility”, “Artist’s Residence”, “Hakone Honbako”, “ANTCICADA”, and many more. He was invited to exhibit at the Venice Biennale’s 17th International Architecture Exhibition in 2021.