Go-Oh Shrine by Hiroshi Sugimoto, at Naoshima, Japan, and its unique natural surroundings influenced this hotel lobby staircase. Principles of animism were incorporated to create a peaceful transitional space that feels light, warm, and inviting at once.
Go-Oh Shrine traces its origins back to the Muromachi (Ashikaga) period (1338-1573). Slated for reconstruction under the Naoshima House Project. Called in as an artist-designer, Hiroshi Sugimoto avoided existing shrine typologies and tried to recreate an imaginary architecture more in keeping with ancient Japanese Shinto worship.
Before shinmyo-zukuri, the first Shinto architectural style formalized in the seventh century, animist worship is thought to have focused on sites in nature where some special quality or force was felt － ineffable “power places” － whether in giant trees or waterfalls or boulders. The ancient Japanese conceived of their kami or deities, as manifesting themselves only when humans purified their “power places” for them.