“TOTO Gallery Ma (Ma)” (Minato-ku, Tokyo), operated by TOTO Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Kitakyushu-shi, Fukuoka-ken, President: Noriaki Kiyota) as part of social contribution activities, handles a wide range of things from public buildings to housing and welfare facilities, and has always attracted attention, such as the Architectural Institute of Japan Award (2023) and curation of the Venice Biennale International Building Exhibition Japan Pavilion (2023), the exhibition “Living Whole- “-A Living Whole” will be held from 2024/9/4 (Wed) to 11/24 (Sun).

Also, as a related event, Onishi Maki + Momota Yuki/ o+h lecture “Living Whole - A Living Whole” will be held on 2024/9/27 (Friday).

“Onishi Maki + Momota Yuki/ o+h Exhibition: Living Whole - A Living Whole” will be held at TOTO Galleries.

The poet T.S. Elliot presented the idea that “a living whole (a living whole) of every poem written up until now” is the concept of poetry, and while the present is guided by the past, the past changes as new poems are inserted, becomes a new complex, and tradition is established there.^*1
Onishi and Momota say that creating a building is thinking about the “living whole” including that architecture. When they created buildings, they listened to the voices of users and local people with diverse backgrounds and characteristics, and even stories handed down in that land, and carefully picked up human activities while translating them into architecture. At the children's play facility “Shelter Inclusive Place Copal,” which received the Architectural Institute of Japan Award (work), the ramp is a flow line for everyone, including wheelchairs, and at the same time it is also a playground for children, creating a complex whole where only a part cannot be taken out. Using individual values and functions as a starting point, so that everyone can find their own place by folding them together, thinking about a “living whole” may be paraphrased as valuing the irreplaceable nature of each being and trying to show the ideal form of a tolerant and diverse society through architecture.
At the exhibition, we will introduce how their works and the “living whole” woven by human activities will emerge as architectural landscapes through models, words, installations, etc. I hope you can experience O+H's gaze and worldview through this exhibition.

TOTO GALLERY Room
*1 Source: “Literary Criticism” by T.S. Elliot and translated by Sadamoto Yamoto, Iwanami Shoten (1938)

Exhibition name (Japanese) - Onishi Maki + Momota Yuki/ o+h Exhibition: Living Whole - A Living Whole

Exhibition name (English) — onishimaki+hyakudayuki/ o+h: A Living Whole
Period — 2024/9/4 (Wed) to 11/24 (Sun)
Opening hours — 11:00-18:00
Closed - Monday　
※ TOTO GALLERY INTERNATIONAL WEBSITEPlease check the latest information at
Admission Fee — Free
Venue ― TOTO Gallery/Room
(TOTO Nogizaka Building 3F, 1-24-3 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0062, Japan)
A one-minute walk from Nogizaka Station Exit 3 on the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line
TEL: 03-3402-1010 　https://jp.toto.com/gallerma/about/map.htm
Organizer — TOTO GALLERY — Room
Planning ― TOTO Gallery/Inter-Steering Committee
(Special Adviser = Tadao Ando, Committee Member = Momoyo Kaijima/Akihisa Hirata/Sen Kuan/Tsuyoshi Tane)
Sponsors ― (1 company) Tokyo Institute of Architects/ (1 company) Tokyo Association of Architects Firms
(Public corporation) Japan Institute of Architects Kanto-Koshinetsu Branch/ (Issha) Architectural Institute of Japan Kanto Branch

Living Whole: A Living Whole

When building a single building,
How do you think of the “living whole” including that architecture?

Overall activity
The activity of making buildings is the very act of living for us. Together with people, we will excavate, think, create, and nurture a building suitable for that location. We regard the whole thing, including such activities, as architecture.

The entirety of space
When a building is created, a world is born within it. On the other hand, architecture is part of that outside world. If architecture can be an entity that connects the inside and outside world, it is possible to continuously capture everything from a small place to a large environment. Building a building is about crossing scales and creating connected relationships that cannot be taken out alone.

The entirety of time
Architecture exists not only as what is in front of us now, but also along with past and future architecture. Therefore, the lives of people in the past and future are included in a single building. Each building material also contains a long period of time that has been nurtured as part of the land. How can we now create buildings that are connected to people in the past, present, and future, and even the time of that land?

The irreplaceable nature of existence
When considering a “living whole,” including architecture, we would like to begin by capturing architecture as a living thing rather than a man-made object away from nature. By facing architecture as an independent entity rather than something controlled by humans, we can go beyond measuring its existence with function and performance, and love and nurture it, including shortcomings and unfinished parts. The viewpoint of seeing architecture as a living thing is an attempt to re-examine the ontological meaning of architecture.

When creating a single building, how do you think about the “living whole” that includes that building? I would like to continue thinking about that question together with many people.

Onishi Maki + Momota Yuki/o+h

Onishi Maki (Onishimaki)

Born in 1983. Graduated from Kyoto University in 2006. Completed the master's program at the University of Tokyo Graduate School in 2008. 2008 - Co-presided over Onishi Maki and Momota Yuki/o+h. Part-time lecturer at Kyoto University from 2016, professor at Yokohama National University Graduate School Y-GSA from 2022.

Momota Yuki (Hyakuda Yuuki)

Born in 1982. Graduated from Kyoto University in 2006. Completed the master's program at the same university graduate school in 2008. 2008 - Co-presided over Onishi Maki and Momota Yuki/o+h. Worked at Toyo Ito Architects & Engineers from 2009 to 2014. Part-time lecturer at Yokohama National University since 2017.

Major works include “Shelter Inclusive Place Copal” (Yamagata Prefecture, 2022) and “Good Job! “Center KASHIBA” (Nara Prefecture, 2016), “Double Helix House” (Tokyo, 2011), etc. Major awards include the 2023 Architectural Institute of Japan Award (work) and the BCS Award.

Onishi Maki+Momota Yuki /o+hLecture: Living Whole--A Living Whole

Date — 2024/9/27 (Friday) 17:30 opening, 18:30 starting, ending at 20:00 (planned)

Venue — Iino Hall (Iino Building 4F, 2-1-1 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo)

Capacity — 500 people

How to Participate — Free Attendance/Advance Registration Required
TOTO GALLERIES INTERNATIONAL WEBSITE (https://jp.toto.com/gallermaPlease apply from).

Application period — 7/23 (Tue) to 9/15 (Sun)
In the case of a large number of applications, the results will be notified by 9/20 (Friday) after a lottery.

Note - We do not accept applications for this lecture with preschool children.

“(Tentative) Onishi Maki + Momota Yuki /o+hCollection of works”

Authors: Onishi Maki + Momota Yuki/o+h

Date of publication: 2024/9 (planned)

Published by TOTO Publishing (TOTO Co., Ltd.) TEL: 03-3497-1010　https://jp.toto.com/publishing

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