Creative architect-designed tents were a central theme at Hokuto Art Program ed.1, literally popping up all over the grounds of the Kiyoharu Art Colony in Hokuto City, Japan. But while most participating architects chose to display their creations out in the open atop the flat lawns, Yuko Nagayama Associates stood out by staging their creations in a forest of birch trees. The incredibly tall and pointy teardrop-shaped translucent tents rise up into the canopy, narrowly avoiding branches that could tear holes into the their membranes and deflate them.

The event took place at Kiyoharu Art Colony, which was established on the former site of an elementary school in 1983. The village includes museums, studios, restaurants, and shops set among birch trees and Yoshino cherry trees, with arts exhibitions taking place indoors and out.
Architectural works on site include creations by famous architects, including the Museum of Light by Tadao Ando, where exhibited pieces interact with natural light; the Kiyoharu Shirabaka Art Museum by Yoshio Taniguchi; the studio of painter Ryuzaburo Umehara created by Isoya Yoshida; and even a portion of the original stairs from the Eiffel Tower. One of the most popular features on the grounds is the Tetsu “treehouse teahouse” created by architect Terunobu Fujimori, which stands on a central pillar of an 80-year-old Japanese cypress and hovers four meters above the ground.

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