Kengo Kuma, one of Japan’s leading architects, is collaborating with OPPO, the world’s leading smart device manufacturer, to present “Bamboo Ring Weaving a Symphony of Lightness and Form,” an installation based on the theme of “creative connections” in the courtyard of the Cortile dei Bagni in Milan during Milan Design Week.

© Kengo Kuma and Associates

The installation explores the harmonious relationship between humans and nature through a supple yet rigid ring-like structure made of split bamboo laminated with carbon fiber sheets. The installation unveiled here is an evolution of the “Bamboo Ring” presented at the 2019 London Design Festival, which uses innovative design and technology to fuse architecture and music to provide a sense of time and space as a user experience.

© Kengo Kuma and Associates

This experiential installation draws the visitor into an immersive experience through the integration of an orchestral score composed by London-based Japanese violinist Midori Komachi and natural environmental sounds collected from around the world. As visitors walk around the space, they can relax and enjoy a soundscape experience that evokes the changing cycle of the seasons.

© OPPO

Designed by Kengo Kuma, the 1.8-meter-diameter ring functions as a musical instrument via structural acoustic technology developed from research at the Oppo London Design Center. The innovative technology generates high and low frequencies by reverberating the bamboo with the vibrato of a violin and the effect of a percussion instrument.

After Milan Design Week, the work will be donated to Arte Sella, a contemporary art museum with an outdoor exhibition space in the woods of Trentino, Italy, which is also known as a sanctuary for environmental art.

OPPO x Kengo Kuma Bamboo Ring II
Weaving a Symphony of Lightness and Form
Date: September 6th – 19th, 2021
Place: Cortile dei Bagni courtyard
Address: 3 Via Festa del Perdono, 20122 Milan
https://kkaa.co.jp