Works
TASTE in the woods at Toranomon Hills
22 Nov - 25Dec 2025
Venue : Toranomon Hills Station Atrium
Client : Mori Building Co., Ltd.
Creative Direction : Ayako Suwa
Project Management : Shinya Furui
Sponsor: dsm-firmenich Partners: WA/VE , Seiko Giken INC. , Aroma Quest
Produce: To/&co.
Photo : Mori Building Co., Ltd.
Client : Mori Building Co., Ltd.
Creative Direction : Ayako Suwa
Project Management : Shinya Furui
Sponsor: dsm-firmenich Partners: WA/VE , Seiko Giken INC. , Aroma Quest
Produce: To/&co.
Photo : Mori Building Co., Ltd.
Amidst the bustling Christmas season at Toranomon Hills,
we are creating a small forest—a space filled with the palpable presence and scent of vibrant life.
This installation was displayed for approximately one month during the Christmas season at the Station Atrium,
a plaza located in front of Toranomon Hills Station on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line.
Deliberately eschewing traditional illuminations or ornaments, the project invited visitors to experience the forest through their own senses—feeling the depth of the woods, the scents, the mist, the breeze, and the flavors.
It was a Christmas tree designed not merely to be decorated, but to be savored.
Leveraging the nature of the public space, a dining table was designed to encircle the forest, creating a place where visitors,
passersby, and those working at Toranomon Hills could gather, converse, and enjoy the experience.
Throughout the season leading up to Christmas, people of all ages—from adults to children—could be seen enjoying a moment in the forest woven together by scents, sounds, and flavors, all while holding food and drinks from a collaborative menu with the adjacent Toranomon Hills Cafe.
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Long ago, in the heart of winter, people would bring evergreens like fir and spruce from the forest into their homes. These trees,
which stayed green through the coldand dark, symbolized the enduring force of life.
Originally, the tree was not merely meant to be decorated.
It was a gesture of reverence̶an offering of thanks andprayer to the living power of nature.
Over time, we’ve drifted away from the textures of the seasons, from the scent of the forest and the feel of the earth.
But if you close your eyes for a moment, you may still sense it: the fragrance of wood, the rustle of leaves,
the damp warmth of bark. Just the presence of trees ̶ of a forest ̶can reconnect us to something deep within: to our primal sense of being alive.
It is a knowing that lives not in reason but in the body ̶ a quiet, ancient intelligence we might call the wild within.
Now, in this season of dazzling lights and urban noise, I long to return to that origin.
This winter, a small forest will emerge in the heart of Toranomon Hills.
Alive with scent and stillness, it invites you in ̶ not just as a decoration, but as a living tree, a reminder of the nature that still lives within us.
Ayako Suwa
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a plaza located in front of Toranomon Hills Station on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line.
Deliberately eschewing traditional illuminations or ornaments, the project invited visitors to experience the forest through their own senses—feeling the depth of the woods, the scents, the mist, the breeze, and the flavors.
It was a Christmas tree designed not merely to be decorated, but to be savored.
Leveraging the nature of the public space, a dining table was designed to encircle the forest, creating a place where visitors,
passersby, and those working at Toranomon Hills could gather, converse, and enjoy the experience.
Throughout the season leading up to Christmas, people of all ages—from adults to children—could be seen enjoying a moment in the forest woven together by scents, sounds, and flavors, all while holding food and drinks from a collaborative menu with the adjacent Toranomon Hills Cafe.
________________________________________________________________
Long ago, in the heart of winter, people would bring evergreens like fir and spruce from the forest into their homes. These trees,
which stayed green through the coldand dark, symbolized the enduring force of life.
Originally, the tree was not merely meant to be decorated.
It was a gesture of reverence̶an offering of thanks andprayer to the living power of nature.
Over time, we’ve drifted away from the textures of the seasons, from the scent of the forest and the feel of the earth.
But if you close your eyes for a moment, you may still sense it: the fragrance of wood, the rustle of leaves,
the damp warmth of bark. Just the presence of trees ̶ of a forest ̶can reconnect us to something deep within: to our primal sense of being alive.
It is a knowing that lives not in reason but in the body ̶ a quiet, ancient intelligence we might call the wild within.
Now, in this season of dazzling lights and urban noise, I long to return to that origin.
This winter, a small forest will emerge in the heart of Toranomon Hills.
Alive with scent and stillness, it invites you in ̶ not just as a decoration, but as a living tree, a reminder of the nature that still lives within us.
Ayako Suwa
________________________________________________________________