Let’s make the most of this, the greatest roof in the world. That was what I thought as I looked at a model of the vast horizontal line created by this structure and I felt an overpowering impulse to smash through it. I wanted to challenge the graceful plain surface of the vast roof with something absurd.

‘The Tower of the Sun’ is not an ‘ordinary sculpture’, the kind that can travel around as an exhibit in art museums.
Seventy meters tall, it has an overpowering sense of presence, its interior contained a dense exhibition space, the process of its erection resembled construction and it failed to conform to the norms of sculpture in every way. However, its most prominent difference was that it ‘had a rival’.
That was the ‘great roof’ that had entered the ring first.
When Tarō Okamoto first began to plan his concept for the theme pavilion, the great roof had already been decided upon as one of the main features of the Expo’s lineup. This great roof, which was patterned on a high-rise city, symbolized the philosophy of the Expo, which was to present the culmination of modernism. Tarō destroyed this by introducing the opposite extreme; he created an air hole in the optimistic modernism that enveloped the Expo.
Half a century has passed since then and the Tower of the Sun, that was built to confront the great roof, now stands alone. However, what kind of structure or space could there be that is capable of confronting the Tower of the Sun? This is something we would like to ask young, talented people.
We are pleased to say that when we held an idea competition, we received one hundred and fifty entries that were judged by a talented panel consisting of Tarō Igarashi, Noi Sawaragi and Sou Fujimoto.
This exhibition will present all the works that were accepted and during its course, at the end of November, the final winner will be selected. We hope that you will enjoy this duel with the Tower of the Sun.