Eye do: a verdant forest landscape forms the backdrop for this ingenious little Japanese wedding chapel.The modern vogue for weddings in unusual settings is also highly popular in Japan. Since most Japanese are not dogmatically religious, tending to cherry-pick aspects of Buddhism, Shintoism and Christianity, wedding ceremonies are not so firmly tied to particular places of worship. Klein Dytham's recently completed Leaf Chapel in the Yamanashi prefecture makes the forested landscape in the foothills of Japan's southern alps the appropriately inspiring setting for the solemn rituals of matrimony MATRIMONY. See Marriage. . [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Set in the grounds of a big swish hotel (whose trade has perked up markedly since the chapel's opening), the new structure resembles an elongated e·lon·gate tr. & intr.v. e·lon·gat·ed, e·lon·gat·ing, e·lon·gates To make or grow longer. adj. or elongated 1. Made longer; extended. 2. Having more length than width; slender. eyeball partly bunkered into the ground overlooking a small reflecting pool to the forest and hills beyond. The intimate, cave-like interior of the chapel is screened by an 'eyelid', an openable veil studded with 4700 acrylic lenses, punched into the surface in a swirling leaf pattern. When the eyelid eyelid /eye·lid/ (-lid) either of two movable folds (upper and lower) protecting the anterior surface of the eyeball. eye·lid or eye-lid n. is closed, scintillating scin·til·late v. scin·til·lat·ed, scin·til·lat·ing, scin·til·lates v.intr. 1. To throw off sparks; flash. 2. To sparkle or shine. See Synonyms at flash. 3. pin-pricks of light percolate percolate /per·co·late/ (per´kah-lat) 1. to strain; to submit to percolation. 2. to trickle slowly through a substance. 3. a liquid that has been submitted to percolation. through the lenses, creating magical luminous patterns and effects. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The moving eyelid/veil forms an important part of the wedding ritual. At the end of the wedding ceremony, when the groom lifts the bride's veil, the veil of the chapel also opens, revealing the ravishing rav·ish·ing adj. Extremely attractive; entrancing. rav  ish·ing·ly adv. panorama of nature beyond. After the ceremony, as the congregation walks out across the pond to a drinks area, the veil slowly closes so that the chapel can be reset for the next wedding. This also cannily ensures a regular throughput of customers (not surprisingly, the chapel has proved immensely popular). Though touched with Klein Dytham's signature playfulness--the transparent backrests of the chapel pews are printed with green lollipop trees familiar from an earlier scheme for Tokyo department store Laforet (AR October 2001)--this imaginative little structure also evokes and connects with wider Japanese traditions, such as setting buildings very precisely in the landscape in order to frame and define particular views. The light-percolating veil could also be seen as a contemporary version of shoji shojiIn Japanese architecture, sliding partition doors and windows made of a latticework wooden frame and covered with a tough, translucent white paper. When closed, they softly diffuse light throughout the house. screens. In any event, the interaction of building and landscape makes a memorable beginning to the charms and challenges of married life. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] |
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