Kurashima took inspiration for this project from the story of the “One-Mat Room,” a small study space created by the nineteenth century Japanese explorer Takeshirō Matsuura (1818–1888). Constructed from wood collected by far-flung friends at important sites throughout Japan, the room became a kind of map of Matsuura’s social network and locations that held meaning for the explorer and those he knew—a collapse of accumulated knowledge and experience into a single charged space. The One-Mat Room is currently located on the campus of the International Christian University in Japan, and carefully maintained by ICU Hachiro Yuasa Memorial Museum as an important part of their mission.

* folding cosmos is Kurashima’s contemporary interpretation of Matsuura’s One-Mat Room. Visitors are invited to gather on the modular seating arrangement, which was inspired in part by the seating components of Isamu Noguchi’s design for the UNESCO Garden (1956–58) in Paris. Kurashima has also drawn a connection between this space and the “folding universes” of Noguchi’s collapsible Akari light sculptures, which have been a lifelong source of inspiration for her. Although the One-Mat Room was not used for tea ceremonies, through each iteration of her * folding cosmos project, Kurashima assumes a role similar to the traditional tea master or host. She approaches each setting as a sort of expanded tokonoma, the alcove of the tearoom where the host displays and arranges objects especially selected for guests’ aesthetic appreciation. Noguchi’s Akari have remained the one constant. Here Kurashima includes a selection of Noguchi’s sculptures alongside pieces by contemporary Japanese artists Aï Kitahara, Kineta Kunimatsu, and Ayumi Tanaka that each uniquely engage with the concept of a folding or collapsed universe. In these works, nature, light, and time seem to expand and contract, each implying an endless continuum.

This installation of * folding cosmos at The Noguchi Museum marks the final iteration of Kurashima’s project, which the artist developed in 2011 and has since been adapting for specific worldwide locations, including Alvar Aalto’s Maison Louis Carré (Bazoches-sur-Guyonne, France); Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye (Poissy, France) and Villa Le Lac (Corseaux, Switzerland); and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe (Barcelona, Spain).

Public Programs

On Thursdays at 1 pm and 1:30 pm, Kurashima invites a small group of visitors to join her in the installation to share tea and conversation. To keep these tea meetings intimate, capacity will be limited to five participants per meeting. Seats can be reserved at The Noguchi Museum front desk on the day of the program.

In a special online program on Thursday, October 17 at 7 pm ET, Dr. Henry Smith (Professor Emeritus, Columbia University) will present a Zoom lecture on Matsuura’s One-Mat Room.

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About Miwako Kurashima

Born in Hokkaido, Japan, Miwako Kurashima is a designer and interior architect. After studying industrial design in Japan, she completed her training in furniture design in Oxfordshire, and in interior design in New York. As a designer and director of * folding cosmos (2011–24), she has exhibited the project at thirteen venues across eight countries, including Alvar Aalto’s Maison Louis Carré (Bazoches-sur-Guyonne, France); Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye (Poissy, France) and Villa Le Lac (Corseaux, Switzerland); and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe (Barcelona, Spain). In 2023, she co-organized the exhibition Isamu Noguchi TOOLS at the Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum in Kobe, Japan. Miwako Kurashima currently lives in Japan, and works around the world. foldingcosmos.org