Stunning Wedding Chapel Appears as Gently-Crossing Ribbons

The Ribbon Chapel is a wedding venue designed by architect Hiroshi Nakamura whose beautiful creation brings out the romantic in all of us. Located at the Seto Inland Sea Resort in Japan, the building rises above the trees with criss-crossing spiral stairs that softly come together at the top. This is appropriately symbolic for an event that's centered around the journey, bond, and the uniting of two lives and families.

The modern-yet-minimal looking exterior plays with our perception, and the strands look as though they are floating on their own. Thanks to its transparent interior, the stunning effect not only adds to the building's aesthetic value, but is the way that the structure supports itself.

There's the belief that it's bad luck for the couple to see each other before the ceremony, and Ribbon Chapel seems to have planned for this superstition. Each person can climb or descend the stairs separately and out of sight, therefore keeping their good luck intact. Guests can observe the union from the yard below and later take in the view of the Setouchi Sea at the observation deck at the top of the chapel.




Ribbon Chapel website and Hiroshi Nakamura website
via [Spoon & Tamago] Photos via [@naparchitects and @ToshikoFerrier]

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled "Embroidered Life" that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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