SRR Project Space to Exhibit Award-Winning Wetland Research Project, First Presented at the National Pavilion of the UAE for the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale

Startbahn, Inc. (Head office: Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Taihei Shii; hereinafter "Startbahn") is pleased to announce the opening of Wetland Lab from October 29 to December 11, 2022, at SRR Project Space, Shimokitazawa, Tokyo. Wetland is a project led by waiwai research and design agency, the research arm of waiwai, an award-winning architectural practice with offices in Dubai and Tokyo. The research project proposes an environmentally friendly salt-based cement alternative inspired by sabkhas—crystalline salt formations found in wetlands in the United Arab Emirates. This will be Wetland’s first presentation in Japan, a year after it premiered at the National Pavilion of the UAE for the 17th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale.



Startbahn is pleased to present a new exhibition at its SRR Project Space in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo, opening on October 29, 2022. Entitled Wetland Lab, the exhibition will showcase research into ecosystems and materials carried out by waiwai research and design agency, the research arm of waiwai, an award-winning multidisciplinary architecture, landscape, graphic, and urban design studio with offices in Dubai and Tokyo.

This research project began at the Pavilion of the United Arab Emirates at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2021, with the exhibition Wetland. The pavilion was awarded the Golden Lion for Best National Participation, the Biennale’s highest honour. The exhibition at SRR Project Space marks the first time the research is being exhibited in Japan.

The Wetland exhibition in Venice presented a prototype of a salt-based cement material, made from recycled industrial waste brine, which has the potential to reduce the construction industry’s impact on the environment. This new material was devised as a potential alternative to commonly used Portland cement, which is responsible for 8% of global CO2 emissions. It uses salt as a binding agent and relies on a crystallization process inspired by the sabkhas (salt formations) naturally found in the UAE.

The exhibition in Shimokitazawa is an opportunity to celebrate leading architects and researchers from the UAE and Japan, in line with SRR Project Space’s mission to promote the role of art, creativity, and technology in sustainable urban development. A central theme of the exhibition is the ways in which technology can be used for the development of new construction materials that are uniquely suited to local ecosystems and environments. The work of waiwai research and design agency on view in the exhibition furthers SRR Project Space’s mission to connect the local community of Shimokitazawa with the latest research projects in contemporary art and design from around the world.

Wael Al Awar, Founding Partner and Principal Architect, waiwai, comments: “We feel a strong sense of responsibility towards the climate crisis and an urgent need to act. The role and definition of the architect must change, to imagine and work towards new futures that support and nurture our ecosystems. Modern materials are responsible for almost 40% of the climate crisis, and the production of space has left our cities looking identical to one another, with no reflection of context. Our concept of the future vernacular offers a way to reconnect with the past using present technologies, with a focus on recycling industrial waste.”

Kazuma Yamao, Founding Partner and Principal Architect, waiwai: “Here begins an attempt to address the many threats to our ecosystems such as global climate change. The site is the key: the culture, the history, the climate, and the people who inhabit it. The key is to see things deeply and up close as local beings and to see things objectively and rationally, as an outsider. The future vernacular rises from these seemingly conflicting perspectives.
A multicultural and multidisciplinary team led by architects based in Japan and the UAE presents Wetland Lab, and the possibilities of a certain future.”

■ Comment from Taihei Shii, Founder/CEO of Startbahn

As a blockchain infrastructure company, Startbahn views ecological concerns as critical to building a sustainable future for the culture and creative sector. As such, we are pleased to introduce waiwai research and design agency’s Wetland Lab for the first time in Japan. We are proud to present such groundbreaking research on sustainability and architecture at SRR Project Space, giving hope for technology’s role to alleviate our global climate crisis.

In addition, we are pleased to collaborate with architects and researchers from both the United Arab Emirates and Japan. As Startbahn expands its global reach, we view the UAE as a ground for sustainable, future-looking development, both in the creative and technology sectors.

■ Outline of Wetland Lab by waiwai research and design agency

[ Title ] Wetland Lab
[ Exhibitors ] waiwai research and design agency
[ Dates ] October 29, 2022 (Sat) - December 11, 2022 (Sun)
[ Venue ] SRR Project Space, Shimokitazawa, Tokyo
[ Organized by ] Startbahn, Inc.
[ Co-organized and cooperation ] waiwai research and design agency

[ Press inquiries ]

waiwai
Send/Receive
Andrew Goodhouse
andrew@sendreceive.eu
+49 152 09518880

Startbahn
Sophie Mayuko Arni
sophie@startbahn.jp

■ SRR Project Space Overview

【 Address 】 2-22-2-1 Kitazawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 155-0031
【 Opening Hours 】 Thu–Sat 13:00–19:00 / Sun 13:00–18:00
【 Closed 】 Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays
【 Organizer 】Startbahn, Inc.
【 Inquiries 】contact@startbahn.jp

Notes to editors:

【 About Wetland 】

Curated by Wael Al Awar and Kenichi Teramoto, Wetland is a research project first presented at the National Pavilion of the UAE at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2021. The pavilion was awarded the Golden Lion for the Best National Participation. Inspired by the salt and mineral ecosystem found in the United Arab Emirates’ sabkhas (salt flats), Wetland presents research into an environmentally friendly cement alternative derived from salt brine produced by seawater desalination plants in the UAE. Commissioned by the Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation and supported by the UAE Ministry of Youth and Culture, Wetland is a product of a collaborative effort between the co-curators and researchers at Amber Lab at New York University Abu Dhabi, the Obuchi Lab and Sato Lab at the University of Tokyo, and the Department of Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences at American University of Sharjah. The exhibition also included photographs taken by New York–based Emirati artist Farah Al Qasimi, and it was accompanied by a publication dedicated to the study of sabkhas and their importance in global ecology and architecture, entitled The Anatomy of Sabkhas, written by Rashid and Ahmed Bin Shabib, co-edited by Wael Al Awar and Kenichi Teramoto, and with a contribution by Marina Tabassum.

【 About Wael Al Awar and Kazuma Yamao 】

Wael Al Awar founded waiwai (formerly ibda design) after returning to the Middle East from Tokyo. Wael layers his interests in natural phenomena into an architecture of light, time, structure, and landscape. He seeks to create an architecture that is more than fabrication, that remains open to adaptation. His site-specific designs encourage unexpected experiences. Wael curated the UAE National Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2021, which was awarded the Golden Lion.

Kazuma Yamao is a Tokyo-based architect who founded waiwai (formerly Gingrich). Following work with Coelacanth and Associates, an office known for designs of educational buildings in Japan, he established his own practice in 2013 and strengthened his connections across Asia and the Middle East. He founded waiwai in 2018 and solidified the office’s deeply rooted position in Dubai and Tokyo. The transcultural perspective he brings to the office’s work facilitates communication through the process of architecture itself.

【 About waiwai 】

waiwai is an architectural, landscape, urban, interior, and graphic design studio with offices in Dubai and Tokyo. Led by Wael Al Awar and Kazuma Yamao, the firm has worked on prominent cultural projects including the Jameel Arts Centre, CICOL and Hai d3 in Dubai; Otaru Harbor Café in Japan; Jeddah’s Hayy Jameel; and Wetland at the National Pavilion of the UAE, which was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2021.
waiwai takes a highly contextual approach to address social, environmental, and technological questions through design. Dubai and Tokyo foster distinct perspectives on the built and natural environment, on the way we live and work with one another and with the world around us. waiwai adopts a strategy that is rooted in ideas of living in each city but that also relies on the careful, attentive eye of the outsider for a wider view.
waiwai was named among the top 17 architects and top 50 influential designers of the year by Nikkei Magazine in 2019, recognized by Architectural Record's annual Design Vanguard issue as one of the top 10 emerging firms in the world in 2018, and included in Architectural Digest’s top 50 offices in the Middle East in 2017 and 2022. waiwai was a Shortlisted Nominee for the Aga Khan Architecture Award in 2019. The firm’s awards include the Golden Lion at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2021; the Arab Architect Award in 2019; the New York Design Award 2018, Silver Medal; the Hong Kong Design Award 2018, Gold Medal; the First Prize at the AIA Middle East Design Awards in 2018; the London Design Award 2016, Silver Medal; and the SD Review Award, Tokyo, 2015, Shortlisted Nominee.

【 About SRR Project Space 】

SRR Project Space is a new exhibition space operated by Startbahn, opened in May 2022, and located at the heart of Shimokitazawa, Tokyo. Located on the Shimokitazawa Line Road Street, Odakyu Electric Railway’s new urban development, “SRR Project Space" derives its name from an abbreviation of Startbahn’s NFT "Startrail Registry Record (SRR)” and "Shimokitazawa Rail Road (SRR)".

As a space for technological innovation and community engagement, SRR Project Space is a place of exploration, learning, and development that further promotes the role of art, creativity, and technology in sustainable urban development. It also acts as a bridge between Shimokitazawa's thriving culture and the international art scene, connecting society with new technological trends such as NFTs and inviting artists from outside Japan to exhibit in Tokyo.

【 About Startbahn 】

Startbahn is a leading Japanese art tech company aiming to enrich society by providing the technology needed by artists and all those involved in the art industry. Startbahn operates Startrail, a sustainable and scalable blockchain infrastructure that assures the reliability, authenticity, and traceability of works.

For more information, visit: https://startbahn.io/

【 About Startrail 】

Startrail is a sustainable and scalable blockchain infrastructure that assures the reliability, authenticity, and traceability of artworks—from physical works such as paintings, sculptures, and installations, to digital works based on data such as images, video, and audio. Providing seamless management of terms & conditions for secondary distribution and other permissions, Startrail can serve as a collection management tool, and due to the nature of blockchain, recorded information cannot be deleted, tampered with, or duplicated. To ensure easy access to Startrail, Startbahn provides a suite of products, including a web application, APIs, and NFC tags for physical objects. Startrail is currently in use by major galleries, e-commerce platforms, art fairs, collectors, artists, and foundations.

For more information, visit: https://startrail.io/