During the last edition of Maison & Objet, Nendo has shown an installation called Rain Bottle for the Trend Exhibition space. The exhibition theme ‘Words’, asked designers to consider the relationship between language and design. Nendo chose the word ‘rain’, but considered its many nuances in Japanese, a language that has dozens of words for rain depending on the condition and time of day, as a way to reflect the fine nuances and sensibilities of Japanese as a language.
The exhibit consisted of clear acrylic bottles lined-up, each containing a different kind of ‘rain’. ’Kirisame’, ‘biu’ and ‘kosame’ refer to different degrees of fine drizzle, while ‘niwaka-ame’ is a sudden downpour. ‘Mizore’ is sleet, and a ‘yudachi’ falls in the evening.
‘Kisame’ is rain that drips from the ends of tree branches, and ‘kaiu’ is rain that falls mixed with dust and pollen. Nendo also included seasonal rains, from the ‘samidare’ that falls in the spring, to ‘shigure’, rain specific to autumn and winter.
By exhibiting twenty different kinds of ‘rain’, Nendo hoped to express Japanese culture’s unique relationship to nature and the depth of this relationship.
all images © HIROSHI IWASAKI