Yokosuka City - THE AXIS OF PEACE (2021) 2:00 (Japan)

Yokosuka Central Park was used as a "turret" during World War II. Therefore, we designed a monument of lighted turrets of peace. The pillars of light can be seen from a distance and remind us of our almost forgotten thoughts of peace in our daily lives.
In addition, in Japan, which is prone to disasters, the pillars of light are lit up to guide citizens to evacuation parks and support people's lives. A circle, which has meant infinity since ancient times, is drawn by citizens with their wishes for peace and engraved on the monument. We have created a space that is filled with the circle of peace throughout the day and night. We incorporated the memories of the turret into the design of the monument, such as the bricks used in the turret at that time, the cherry blossoms engraved on the bricks, and the shape of the base. We did not just build an art monument, but tried to create a new landscape to support people. The axis of peace, which can be seen from afar, gives us a sense of peace in our daily lives. Since Japan is a country with many disasters, we thought it was important to make a monument that would be useful in times of disaster, and proposed a monument that would guide people in times of disaster. We decided to involve citizens in the design because we feel that it is important to connect with people now that the COVID-19 disaster is upon us. We wanted people to feel a sense of unity by looking at the countless circles engraved on the monument. And by combining the memories of the past with the monuments, we hope that they will be loved by people of all ages for a long time to come.

The ceiling and the central column of the monument are decorated with many circles. Circles have long had the meaning of "infinity and eternity," and with the wish for lasting peace, we asked citizens to draw circles, which were then converted into data and collected. We used the sea breeze blowing from the high ground of the park to create the pattern of the carved circles. The hand-drawn circles were carefully punched one by one with a laser.

HAKUTEN Corporation / Tokyo + Panoramatiks / Tokyo

Client / Brand Yokosuka City