Isuzu Space Station Children’s Plaza

Isuzu Corporation - 1989

Isuzu Motors and Japan Railway sponsored this children’s plaza in front of the Yokohama’s Sakuragicho Train Station. The project was commissioned to celebrate the links between people, ground transportation and space exploration. Since venturing into the cosmos is closely associated with an absence of gravity, the plaza plane supports an inverted world of people and Isuzu vehicles. To achieve this effect, the lower bodies and legs of a large number of Yokohama residents have been cast from life in fiberglass, then installed in a reversed position. The intention is to create the illusion of an invisible walking surface, suspended above the actual plaza level. In order to enhance this surreal dimension, all of the human figures, automobiles, bicycles, street furniture and tree roots are monochrome gray to match the color of the paving.