Along the hillside of Mount Arikasa, with its rough mountain surface, is a utopia for the elderly, which had once aimed to provide a self-sufficient lifestyle. This former home for the elderly is a building with an extremely unique plan. It has a cafeteria tower, room tower and bath tower that measure a total of 46m in length, connected by a long staircase over a height of 12m. This softly sloping staircase is designed parallel to an outdoor staircase on a gentle slope with an average altitude of 670m. Its scale gives one the sensation of strolling along a section of the globe fit into a single room.

In designing an art installation along this staircase, we tried to visualize the feeling of passing through various layers of air while climbing this staircase. Different color threads were used for each step, for 24 layers of thread with a rise of 12.5cm as an extension of the staircase. The threads, which stretch from the wall towards the tread of the stairs, fan out in a radial fashion, as they gradually dissipate into the air. They give visual form to the layers of air in 24 colors – each step brings you to a different layer of air. Step by step, the landscape changes before your eyes, giving you an experience somewhat like stepping through the morning fog.