Kei Kaihoh Architects

Melting Landscape is an installation of a modern version of Yukimuro, a traditional snow storage method, used to preserve food on the mountains of Japan. In its original setting, the use of snow is connected to a delicate system. Heavily affected by climate change, land consumption, financial crisis, urbanization, pollution, and unsustainable uses of limited natural resources, the small village of Yasuzuka bases its entire economy on a Yukimuro. The collected snow is used for a number of activities, such as the air-conditioning of public buildings, agriculture, food production, and textile industry. The installation represents research on new ways of using snow, and on new technologies to apply to it. This study wants to set the bases for the design of the future of these ephemeral landscapes. The use of storage methods, from valleys in small villages to empty plots and gardens of dense cities, can generate clean energy and bring attention to this disappearing resource. A new typology of architecture can branch, one that works together with natural phenomena.