over 2000 wood pieces used in log tower by tadashi kawamata

log tower by tagashi kawamata opens in switzerland all images courtesy of kunstmuseum thurgau

‘scheiterturm / log tower’ a funerary monument comprised of over 2000 circularly stacked wooden pieces was recently completed by tadashi kawamata in the rolling hills of the swiss kunstmuseum thurgau. while the full scale installation will stand for three years, the present tower required a team of students working for two weeks with monastic levels of focus on the addition of the logs to a conical framework. the result is a feat of cairn-like engineering and remarkable subtlety. the endeavor of the funeral tower draws from the rustic architecture of the nearby charterhouse and how a single, seemingly lifeless material can change over time. while the logs are disconnected from the ground, the distance and drying process enables them to slowly move and unpredictably shift the architectural form as they desiccate. the 9 meter high built form articulates a cyclical nature of a temporary art event– the material of artistic output is to be sold as firewood after two years. 

time lapse of the construction process

video © apres production