Why don’t we see the forest AND the trees!

Why don’t we “see the forest AND the trees”!

A well-known saying “Not seeing the forest for the trees” is an expression used of someone who is too involved in the details to look at the situation as a whole.
If so, how about “Seeing the forest AND the trees”?

It is like imagining something bigger from each tiny detail, and then examining it closely.If trees were people, our future would be like a big forest, so to speak. Everyone would become aware that individual lives can directly connect together to take charge of our society, and we would be able to think about a better future: the big forest.It is no exaggeration to say that we, as Japanese people, have been living our lives surrounded by trees for a long time, whereas the planet as a whole is now facing a sharp decrease in forest areas.Right now, about 70% of the total land area of Japan is forest. This shows that our country is one of the most forest-oriented, especially among the developed countries.
We wish that we could exist as trees or forests in Japan, to give some sort of blessing to people’s everyday lives.

So, let’s start from here, together.

ATELIER MUJI

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“Makers” and “Users”

“Tsukuri-te (Makers)” and “Tsukai-te (Users)” - in the Japanese language, they sound very similar, although they are in fact very different in meaning.

When did this distance come about? Far in the past, “Makers” were also “Users”, as we made our tools and then used them everyday. In the recent era, “Makers” are moving farther away from “Users” and in some cases these two parties are opposed to each other, as our society is becoming more divided in each individual specialisation. Our Koiya project is a design project to connect people to Japanese forestry districts.

To achieve this, most of our products are only half-completed, so that the forestry area can produce it more easily. These products will be assembled or finished by the people or carpenters who are buying them. Hence, they are designed to transform “Users” into “Makers”. Weekly workshops will be organised during the exhibition, enriching its content thanks to your contributions as participants. We hope that you too will become one of the “Makers”, touching and handling wood as a creative material, and finding joy in making something yourself.

From everybody in Koiya