ryo yamada’s site-specific timber installation visualizes future sea level at summerhall arts

ryo yamada’s zero meter above sea level 20000 is a site-specific installation situated in the war memorial gallery at summerhall arts, edinburgh.

ryo yamada edited by christina vergopoulou July 5, 2025 3 min

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RYO YAMADA’S ART INSTALLATION REFLECTS LONG-TERM CLIMATE IMPACT

Ryo Yamada’s Zero Meter Above Sea Level 20000 is a site-specific installation situated in the War Memorial Gallery at Summerhall Arts, Edinburgh. The work models the projected sea level in this specific location 19,980 years into the future, assuming a continued trajectory of global sea-level rise.

The installation is based on the current elevation of Summerhall, approximately 76 meters above present sea level. With ongoing climate-induced sea-level rise, currently estimated at approximately 0.5 meters globally over the next century, the piece extrapolates this trend to visualize a time when the sea may reach the current elevation of the gallery site.

ryo yamada's site-specific timber installation visualizes future sea level at summerhall arts - 1 — all images courtesy of Ryo Yamada

Zero Meter Above Sea Level 20000 uses timber and non-woven fiber

Constructed over 33 days, the installation occupies a footprint of 4.2 meters by 4.2 meters within the 7-meter-wide by 6-meter-deep gallery. The ceiling height of the work is set at 2.17 meters, referencing a calculated sea-level height relative to the gallery floor, which itself sits 1.35 meters above the base elevation point of 76 meters.

Designer Ryo Yamada’s installation uses slender 21mm x 21mm timber elements, each manually cut by the artist. Despite their fine dimensions, the frame is structurally stabilized through precise interconnections, forming a unified, monolithic volume. The skeletal timber structure supports a surface of non-woven fiber, which diffuses light to evoke the visual and atmospheric quality of a future sea surface.

ryo yamada's site-specific timber installation visualizes future sea level at summerhall arts - 2 — projected sea level 19,980 years from now, modeled in timber and light

ryo yamada's site-specific timber installation visualizes future sea level at summerhall arts - 3 — Zero Meter Above Sea Level 20000 situates the future sea at gallery height

ryo yamada's site-specific timber installation visualizes future sea level at summerhall arts - 4 — timber frame marks a speculative ocean surface in central Edinburgh

ryo-yamada-zero-meter-above-sea-level-20000-summerhall-arts-edinburgh-designboom-1 — the central box measures sea level every 110 years; the bottom line is sea level 19650 years later

ryo yamada's site-specific timber installation visualizes future sea level at summerhall arts - 5 — extrapolated sea-level rise visualized through architectural precision

ryo yamada's site-specific timber installation visualizes future sea level at summerhall arts - 6 — a 2.17-meter-high structure based on sea-level data and site measurements

ryo yamada's site-specific timber installation visualizes future sea level at summerhall arts - 7 — constructed over 33 days using manually cut 21mm x 21mm timber

ryo yamada's site-specific timber installation visualizes future sea level at summerhall arts - 8 — light-filtering fiber evokes the visual tone of a subaqueous environment

ryo-yamada-zero-meter-above-sea-level-20000-summerhall-arts-edinburgh-designboom-2 — an atmospheric frame assembled from hundreds of hand-cut wooden elements

ryo yamada's site-specific timber installation visualizes future sea level at summerhall arts - 9 — delicate yet stable frame forms a monolithic volume through joint precision

ryo yamada's site-specific timber installation visualizes future sea level at summerhall arts - 10 — ceiling height represents future sea level within Summerhall Arts Gallery

project info:

name: Zero Meter Above Sea Level 20000
designer: Ryo Yamada

location: Edinburgh, Scotland

venue: Summerhall Arts ‘War Memorial Gallery’

dates: June 26th – July 6th, 2025

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