Sapporo Snow Festival
Odori 2-chome Site
Title Snow City in the Future
A figurative “Future Snow City,” forming part of a social experiment with visitor input where the future is created collectively, focusing on transport and lifestyle.
How will the cities that we live in change in the future? How will technology be incorporated into our lives, and how will the relationship between the man-made city and the natural environment manifest?
During the Sapporo Snow Festival, a theoretical “Future Snow City” will be on display – an experimental urban installation that takes possibilities for future cities and expresses them as a work of art.
“Our starting point for this project was the concept of an ‘off-grid city.’ Our thought process was that an off-grid system (where a variety of resources are produced and consumed within a single location) could be implemented in future cities, where energy and resources produced by combining multiple technologies need not necessarily be supplied from distant lands. This is an open experiment to promote making sustainability and circularity a natural part of our everyday lives using advanced technology.
We would like the help of festival-goers to create the vision of a Future Snow City, with self-driving cars on the roads, where necessities will be updated according to appropriate designs, and where people will play, learn, gather, spend their days, and enjoy their nights together. We hope you will join us in creating a Future Snow City.”
Sapporo Snow Festival Odori 2-chome Site Map
1：AIRSHIP ORCHESTRA
Sixteen inflatable characters, seemingly sent from a distant universe and enveloped in a skin that shines like the galaxy, sing in voices reminiscent of stardust. As you walk among the characters who have fallen upon this snowy city, you will be immersed in the rhythm of their colorful changing lights along with sound that responds to your movements. You may even see them as children having fun in the light and sound of the Future Snow City.
10:00-22:00
2：Local mobility
Ryohin Keikaku Co.,Ltd.,
How do you get around when it’s snowing?
Whether it be to the local supermarket or the family doctor,
even for just a short trip, do you spark up a conversation with the person riding next to you,
or listen to the radio blaring?
Join us in imagining a new way of life with ease of mobility that makes you forget the winter blues and venture out once more.
3：SIAF RADIO
h.o
SIAF Radio is the Future Snow City’s fictional AI radio program.
The program is hosted by an AI that has learned SIAF2024 Director OGAWA Hideaki’s voice, autonomously generating content and music from information about the city where the GACHA vehicle drives.
What new “”sound fruits”” can we cultivate in this snowy city of the future?
4：Destinaty store
Ryohin Keikaku Co.,Ltd.,
When do you go shopping?
To buy groceries for dinner, to prepare for the cold winter,
when there’s something in particular you want…
Whatever the reason may be, when it comes to going shopping in the cold,
we are reminded of how valuable it truly is to have stores nearby.
This store travels freely, and the next destination might just be your town.
5：Compact life
Ryohin Keikaku Co.,Ltd.,
What kind of place would you like to live in next?
The foot of a mountain blessed with rich nature, an urban area with convenient transportation,
a town where it snows again year after year…
If every resident of these places could live their life using less energy,
the next generation might be able to enjoy the same scenery.
It may be compact in size, but it is just right for living in.
weekdays：11:00〜19:00 Saturday and Sunday：11:00〜20:00
6：SIAF Lab. Extreme Experiments
SIAF LAB.
SIAF Lab. has been experimenting to make “Island Eye Island Ear” a reality in Hokkaido, an unfinished concert project conceived in the 1970s with the aim of turning an isolated island into a musical instrument. Sound beams envisioned by David Tudor will be generated using an originally developed super-directional loudspeaker and endurance/acoustic experiments will be conducted in the snow, utilizing its low temperature and sound absorption properties.
15:00-22:00
7：meta forest
SAITO Seiichi＋Panoramatiks
We envision that cities in the future will always have a forest nearby. Forests in cities will be a source of energy, a resource for purposes like construction, and will provide a bounty of other blessings in our daily lives. Within this urban installation site, thinned wood cut down from Sapporo forests is borrowed as a form of meta-expression, and will be returned and recycled to be used as a resource again after project completion.
10:00-22:00
8：JIKU#020 SAPPORO | ODORI
SAITO Seiichi
In this series, rays of light are used to depict the earth’s axis with places that have disappeared due to modern urban development. This piece of work (the 20th in the series) on Sapporo’s Odori Street expresses the axis of the Future Snow City, which also emphasizes the axis of Odori Park – also known as the axis of Sapporo as a city. The work will also serve as an experiment in turning the sky into streetlights in the Snow City.
16:30-22:00
Future Snow City Signage
panoramatiks+NIKKEN SEKKEI LTD
A skyline unhindered by power lines, a world filled with mountains of powdery silver.
A space that feels like all information has simply been reset.
The signs for the Future Snow City were created by Panoramatiks to form new urban infrastructure by arranging essential information horizontally using color and height. Additionally, NIKKEN SEKKEI has created an installation with signs that can be physically experienced through the five senses. Through light, sound, and touch, you can walk around the signage in circles, pass through it, and look up at the sky.
10:00-22:00
Learn more about the concept
The first ever Winter SIAF is almost here! Listen to the “Director & Curators’ Talk” to hear more about getting around and making the most of the festival
A talk session with guest SAITO Seiichi, Director of Panoramatiks – the company tasked with this venue’s conceptualization and urban design
WIRED Japan Podcast: SIAF AS A TOOL #2 with Guest SAITO Seiichi (Director of Panoramatiks)
Following the “Director & Curators’ Talk,” tune in here to learn about the concept and content of the venue
Mall C Exhibition at Sapporo Cultural Arts Community Center (SCARTS)
An exhibition brought to you by Panoramatiks and SIAF Lab which recounts the background of the Snow Festival Site
| Curator/Venue Planning Director | Panoramatiks/SAITO Seiichi（Director, Panoramatiks） |
| Artist | ENESS, h.o, SIAF Lab. |
| Initiative Partner | Dai Nippon Printing Co.,Ltd., NIKKEN SEKKEI LTD, Panoramatiks, Ryohin Keikaku Co .,Ltd. |
| Management and Construction | Plus Point inc |
| Cooperation | Sapporo Snow Festival Executive Committee, SAPPORO Incubation Hub DRIVE, NPO E-LINK, NTT TechnoCross Corporation,Sapporo City Construction Bureau,SAPPORO DOME Co., Ltd,Hibino Corporation, Hibino Spacetech Corporation, Architainment |