The 3 years art project 'A Tree', launched in April 2025 by GINZA SIX and design office DAIKEI MILLS, enters its second phase. Works by six artists active in Japan and overseas will be rolled out sequentially from autumn 2025.

E&Y has been involved in this project since second phase, assisting with designer curation and overseeing production and management.

'A Tree' is an art project that focuses on Yoshino cedar, illuminating the material's origins, distribution, and the sawmilling process the material, and expressing the process through which wood transforms into furniture and architecture.

DAIKEI MILLS, which leads this project alongside GINZA SIX, is a design office that consistently explores the relationship between people and space. While undertaking diverse design projects for commercial spaces and public facilities, it also engages in the SKWAT movement, which temporarily occupies societal voids and releases them to the public.

Photo : Yasuyuki Takaki

In the first phase, this project identified intrinsic value in the fundamentals of craftsmanship. Chairs crafted from solid Yoshino cedar wood adorned the interior, while a featuring fantastical light installations appeared on the rooftop.

*The overview of the 'A TREE' project and an interview with Keisuke Nakamura from DAIKEI MILLS can be viewed here.

In the second phase, works by six artists will be exhibited.

Production was carried out with the cooperation of Houei Forestry and Ohtani Wood, inheritors of Yoshino forestry. Each artist engaged with Yoshino forestry and designed their work based on inspiration felt locally.
Functionally expanded as communication tools incorporating elements of art and culture, they will provide a spatial experience encouraging new discoveries for visitors to GINZA SIX.

The first instalment will commence on 31 October 2025, featuring an exhibition by Tokyo-based designer Siin Siin and Korean artist duo KUO DUO.

Siin Siin
Siin Siin is a Tokyo-based designer whose practice spans small-scale production of objects, primarily furniture, spatial design as compositions of objects, and commissioned collaborations across disciplines. Beginning with close observation of materials, techniques, sites, and interpersonal dynamics, he focuses on subtle misalignments and residual traces. By composing these into form, he reframes how objects and spaces are perceived. He treats making--and its inherent processes--as integral to design, embracing the instability and improvisation that emerge along the way.

WEB : https://siin-siin.com/
INSTAGRAM : siin_____siin

KUO DUO
KUO DUO is a seoul-based industrial design studio for three-dimensional design: product, furniture, spatial design along with creative direction.
Hwachan Lee and Yoomin Maeng met while studying Industrial Design at Hong-ik University in Seoul, and opened their own design office after graduation. The studio designs and develops product, furniture and space along with creative direction by the designers with international experience in studios like Cecilie Manz Studio, Form Us With Love, Shigeki Fujishiro Design and SWNA.
They have wide curiosity about exploring the boundaries of their design output, from industrial design and mass production projects to limited editions, exhibitions and space installations. Their works mainly focus on finding a balance between fresh approaches to material usage and production techniques, along with the functionality and simplicity of the final outputs. The process is accompanied by hands-on experiments and adventurous investigation into various possibilities of material con- struction, eventually aiming to expand their own design typologies and produce long-lasting products.
The studio collaborates with a wide range of brands and clients, offering varied outputs in the field of three-dimensional de- sign. They were awarded the Rising Talent Award by Maison&Objet in 2025.

WEB : https://kuo-duo.com/
INSTAGRAM : kuo__duo

The second instalment features Rio Kobayashi a London-based designer and maker, and Fabien Cappello who runs a design studio specialising in furniture and products based in Guadalajara, Mexico.

The third instalment will feature works by London-based designer Max Lamb known for his innovative and experimental approach, and Faye Toogood, whose diverse practice spans furniture, fashion, sculpture and beyond, transcending genre and style.