the shadow of a tree the pattern of the rain

Set within an external sunken courtyard, a 12 m high silver tree - an imagined shadow tree - links lower & upper levels. The reflection of the same species of tree planted outside mixes with the silvery shadow. 'Rainsquares' inset within the paved granite floor of the courtyard crystallize the memory of a real time event: falling rain on the roof of a neighbouring building on the 12 & 13 june 2002. Variation in the force of the falling raindrops on thin metal leaf made by wind or the rain shadow of the surrounding buildings caused the variations in the pattern. Commissioned for the Marunouchi building, Tokyo by Mitsubishi Estate C. Completed 2003.
photo: Tetsuhito Tanaka