Ryue Nishizawa's orange observation platform at a landfill in Toon, Japan

Most of us never see where our rubbish ends up. This exhibition, curated by Kazuyo Sejima, takes visitors into Oono Development's recycling complex in Toon, Ehime Prefecture, where a whole valley has been engineered into a basin for waste. Lined off from the surrounding soil and plants, it is expected to fill over roughly 15 years, so the ground itself keeps changing. Her SANAA co-founder Ryue Nishizawa has built an observation platform at its rim.

The platform is a bright red-orange, a colour drawn from a natural mineral found in Ehime, and it stands out sharply against the pale earth, the turquoise landfill lining and the green mountains beyond. Visitors ride a bus up to the higher reaches of the site, dressed in workwear of the same orange. Suzuko Yamada designed both the bus and the clothing, while Shingo Masuda and Katsuhisa Otsubo made the gathering spaces and a bus stop.

It is one of seven working industrial sites in the first Setouchi Art and Industry festival, run by the Japan Industrial Art Foundation across Okayama and Ehime, with others linked to salt, denim, textiles, shipbuilding and batteries. The article gives no dates or booking details, so check the festival's own information before planning a trip around it.

Our summary of a story from designboom, published 26 October 2026. Read the original

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