Makoto Azuma’s ambitions have always been astronomical. In his hands, flowers find themselves in impossible places doing unnatural things—bonsai trees travel to outer space and the deep sea; blossoms are encased in ice blocks and planted onto a Dries Van Noten runway; unruly bouquets are used as props in Danish punk rock performances. Though noted for his radical expressions, the acclaimed Japanese botanical sculptor grounds his practice in a subtle reverence for life’s fleeting nature and conducts his mind-bending experiments in an unassuming workshop on a quiet Tokyo backstreet. His latest achievement is earthly but no less grand: a giant floral installation growing inside SFER IK Museion, the biophilic cultural institution near Tulum, deemed the “Guggenheim of the Jungle.”
Azuma crafted the sculpture, called Mexx, in response to the surrounding verdant landscape and SFER IK’s undulating open-air structure, a fantastical oasis designed by Roth-Architecture that’s entirely devoid of flat floors, walls, or ceilings. “When conceptualizing Mexx, I was inspired by the unique architecture of SFER IK,” Azuma says. “It’s made by humans but done in unique dialogue with the jungle. The museum itself feels like an organism, and I wanted to create a new biophilic encounter between species within it that will naturally evolve over time.”
