Ryue Nishizawa's Orange Observation Cone Opens Japanese Landfill to Public

A 33-metre-wide orange cone by Ryue Nishizawa now overlooks an active landfill basin in Toon, Ehime, on Japan's Shikoku island. The structure stands at Oono Development, a recycling complex normally closed to the public, and opens that industrial space to visitors for the first time.

Nishizawa co-founded the Tokyo studio SANAA with Kazuyo Sejima in 1995. He built the observation deck for the inaugural edition of Setouchi Art and Industry 2026, an art and architecture festival staged across industrial sites in Japan. It forms part of the Final Disposal Site exhibition, curated by Sejima herself.

What does the cone look like?

The cone measures 33 metres in diameter and four metres in height. Its scale deliberately emulates an artificial hill. The luminous orange finish contrasts with the blue-green hues of the landfill lining and the landscape beyond.

The platform invites visitors to observe how nature and human activity shape the terrain, and to witness the recycling plant's processes of material circulation first-hand. In plain terms: a viewpoint on a working waste facility, designed as public architecture.

How do visitors reach the site?

The Final Disposal Site exhibition includes additional commissions:

• Bus stops by Shingo Masuda + Katsuhisa Otsubo
• Buses and visitor workwear by Suzuko Yamada Architects

Visitors must take these buses to the site and put on the workwear before entering. The festival team said this brings "visitors themselves into the composition of the landscape".

"Together, these interventions invite a closer encounter with the relationship between nature, industrial infrastructure and human activity," it added.

What is Setouchi Art and Industry 2026?

The Japan Industrial Art Foundation organised the festival. Artists and architects were invited to work with industrial sites across Okayama and Ehime prefecture on Shikoku, creating what the organisers call a "decentralised museum".

The inaugural edition runs until 31 October across seven venues. These include a salt production site, a textile factory, a shipbuilder and a battery manufacturer.

"Developed through collaboration between artists and participating companies, the exhibitions offer access to industrial spaces usually closed to the public, revealing the technologies, materials and people behind everyday life," said Setouchi Art and Industry.

Japan Industrial Art Foundation director Masahiro Ito framed the festival's ambition in generational terms. "We hope that many people, including the younger generation, will re-examine Japan's industries from a fresh perspective and discover the charm and potential hidden within them," Ito said.

Where else is SANAA working?

The studio's other recent projects include the Taichung Green Museumbrary in Taiwan and a proposal for the National Museum of Ecuador. With Nishizawa's cone drawing festival crowds to a working landfill until 31 October, the inaugural edition will test whether industrial Japan can sustain audiences at scale — and whether a second edition follows.