Ginza Sony Park will open its buildings under construction for a special event in preparation for its grand opening in January 2025, hosting a program called "ART IN THE PARK (under construction)" from November 19 (Tue) to December 1 (Sun), 2024, featuring three artists with deep ties to Ginza Sony Park: SHUN SUDO, Koji Yamaguchi, and Takuro Tamayama. Over the two-week period, more than 10,000 people visited the park, many of whom enjoyed the unique fusion of art and architecture.
At the venue, Takuro Tamayama exhibited a work that captured the entire Ginza Sony Park building, which is currently under construction, as one space. It was a light installation that boldly used the atrium from the second basement floor to the ground floor, crossing the boundaries of the floors and penetrating the building. The green and orange LED fluorescent lights attracted the attention of people from Japan and abroad passing through the city, and many people stopped by Ginza Sony Park as if drawn by the light. By integrating the inside and outside with the city without separating them, visitors to the city were able to experience the concept of Ginza Sony Park, which aims to allow people to easily come and go as they please.
Furthermore, on the third and fourth floors, SHUN SUDO's iconic BUTTON FLOWER works and works based on the flower fields of Yamaguchi Koji were on display. From the windows on these floors, visitors could see the scaffolding of the stairs under construction and the people working there, allowing visitors to enjoy a space where art and a construction site are one and the same.
Visitors have offered numerous praises, such as "It was innovative and interesting to exhibit art while under construction," "From top to bottom, I enjoyed the art and the new Ginza Sony Park building," "Seeing it in person was even more exciting than I expected," "I empathize with the highly public concept of contributing to improving the appeal of the Ginza area," "It's an appealing and groundbreaking space," and "I will definitely visit Ginza Sony Park, whenever I come to Japan again."
■ Overview of "ART IN THE PARK (under construction)"
Name: ART IN THE PARK (under construction)
Date: Tuesday, November 19, 2024 – Sunday, December 1, 2024 *Finished Location: Ginza Sony Park (5-3-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo)
Admission: Free, advance reservation required
WEB: https://www.sonypark.com/ginza/040/
About the Ginza Sony Park Project
The Ginza Sony Park project is a project to rebuild the Sony Building, which has been a part of the Ginza area for over 50 years, with the concept of "a facility open to the city."
The Sony Building was built in 1966 by Akio Morita, one of the founders of Sony.
There was a 33-square-meter public space there that Morita called the "Ginza Garden," a symbol of "a facility open to the town." We wanted to carry on the founder's vision for the next 50 years, so we have been working on this project to expand the "Ginza Garden" into a "Ginza Park," creating a new rhythm for the town, making it more accessible to visitors, and providing a variety of ways to enjoy it.
In order to keep the rebuilding process unique and worthy of Sony's name, the company adopted a two-stage process based on an innovative idea. In the first stage, instead of immediately constructing a new building, the company carried out an unprecedented experimental attempt to turn the site into a park while the building was being demolished (August 2018 to September 2021). As a result, the park has been visited by a total of 8.54 million people over a period of about three years, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.
After that, demolition and construction will resume in the second phase, with the final form of the project, Ginza Sony Park, scheduled for completion in August 2024 and its grand opening in January 2025.
Sony Park official website and social media accounts
Web: https://www.sonypark.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ginzasonypark/
X: https://x.com/ginzasonypark/
Facebook: https://facebook.com/ginzasonypark/
YouTube: https://youtube.com/ginzasonypark/
@ginzasonypark #GinzaSonyPark
[Sony Enterprise Co., Ltd.] Press Release