Created for the Japanese department store Isetan, Nendo’s Bell-Orgel is a music box comprising three wooden bells.
The bells are made of Japanese cypress wood (hinoki), which was harvested in accordance with sustainable forest management practices. Nendo also collaborated with composer Sakamoto Ryuichi on his “Moretrees” initiative, which highlights the importance of protecting forests as they absorb CO2.
The bell shape, as a very familiar form, invites visitors to touch the music box to appreciate the feel of the wooden surface. Nendo designed the music boxes and then commissioned 57 different designers to decorate them.
Bell-Orgel comes in three different varieties, a hand bell, a standing bell and a hanging bell. When the hand bell is laid on its side it stops playing its melody, while turning the bell on the standing bell winds the music box mechanism to make it play.
Nendo also believed that the combination of form and material of the Bell-Orgel would soften the metallic sound of the chimes.
