Life Science Code Monument by Takumi Takahashi is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 Platinum A' Design Award in Fine Arts and Art Installation Design Competition Category.
PlatinumFine Art· 2025
Life Science Code Monument
Client: Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
Platinum A' Design Award Winner in Fine Art Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #165542The Design
About Life Science Code Monument
This monument expresses the memory of Life Science based on the genome sequence of DNA, the foundation of Life Science. Genome is the memory of life from its origins to the present, and the monument incorporates natural objects that have nurtured people, and craftsmanship passed down through the ages in Japan, as traces of life. Touching upon the origins that people have accumulated, the monument embodies the mysteries of life science revealed through human memories.
The Recognition
About the Platinum A' Design Award
Life Science Code Monument is a Platinum A' Design Award winner, an extremely prestigious recognition granted to truly exceptional, elegant, and magnificent designs. Platinum winners are marvels of creation, testaments to the limits of intellectual creativity, and demonstrate the unmatched professionalism and genius of their designers. These designs are expected to be the most renowned works that define the aesthetics of an era, contribute to the well-being of society, and push the boundaries of art, science, design, and technology. Life Science Code Monument exhibits a transcendent level of excellence and unequivocally makes the world a better place with its advantageous and worthwhile characteristics. Life Science Code Monument is a Platinum A' Design Award-winning work that triggers desires, inspires, excites, delights, and sparks great joy.
Where to Get It
Award-Winning Installation and Experience Design
We transform spaces into meaningful experiences through art installations, spatial design, and environmental narratives. Our multidisciplinary approach combines light, materials, and memory to create powerful environments that inspire and engage. From corporate monuments to experiential exhibitions, we craft unique spatial stories.
Discuss Your ProjectBehind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- Chugai Pharmaceutical's Life Science Park commissioned a monument to convey the mysteries and unknown possibilities of life science. As life science now drives drug creation by unlocking genomic information from human DNA, the monument compiles diverse memories etched in our DNA. This includes natural materials evoking Life and materials created by human hands, representing Science, aiming to embody the essence and potential of life science.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- This 6m x 1.5m x 2.2m monument embodies human and Earth memories. Its design, based on the human genome sequence, integrates diverse materials: ancient stones, local flora, native trees and medicinal herbs. A transparent stone base, evoking water as the source of life, is illuminated from within, highlighting the genome's varied expressions. The DNA derived design reveals life's mystery through shifting perspectives.
- Tags
- monument, life science, design, Art, hakuten, memory, Life Science Code
- Production Technology
- This monument crystallizes memories from nature, technology, and culture, archiving them for future generations. It juxtaposes normally incompatible memories, creating a unique landscape and prompting reflection on sustainability. Wood scraps were recycled into furniture, and metal scraps were reused, embodying circularity.
- Design Challenge
- This monument, while not directly generating profit, aims to inspire and provide spiritual support to life science researchers. It expresses the invisible mysteries of life science, a field filled with the unexplained, where researchers strive to improve human well-being. By touching the depths of people's hearts, this monument hopes to bring color and inspiration to their work, supporting their challenge against the mysterious world of life science.
- Research
- We were deeply moved to realize that our own DNA contains the inherited memories of the earth. Therefore, we carefully investigated various memories up to now, and collected a wide variety of memories, including natural objects created over a long period of time, human culture and technology, and memories of Chugai's pharmaceuticals.
- Inspiration
- Chugai's Life Science Park commissioned a monument to convey life science's profound mysteries. The design, mirroring drug creation through genome analysis, uses human genome sequences. The resulting patterns evoke life's beauty and complexity, encoding evolution and human essence. Integrating time-nurtured memories, the monument embodies life's enigmatic mystery. It stands as a testament to the intricate and beautiful nature of life, revealed through the very code that defines us.
- Project Duration
- This project was completed in May 2024
It is located at Chugai's new research facility in Totsuka, Kanagawa, Japan. - Operation Flow
- Researchers viewing this monument can draw inspiration from its unique landscape, filled with memories from nature, technology, and culture. Viewers' reflections become part of the monument, symbolizing the present moment alongside diverse memories. It aims to convey that genomes exist within us, hinting at unknown possibilities.
- Team Members
- Design：Takumi Takahashi, HAKUTEN
Structural design : Naoki Iwama, Iwama Design
Metal hardware design and production : Kenichi Ochiai, Ochiai Seisakusho
Creative direction for the forest : Chikako Kadoi, Bears Dance in the Hida Forest
Product Management : Kumazaki Kohei, HAKUTEN
Produce : Masako Takahama, HAKUTEN - Image Credits
- Photo by :Nacasa ＆ Partners Inc. | Akira Arai
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