You already know I dig miniatures but another thing I particularly love is bonsai trees, so when you throw the two together, I’m going to get a little over excited. Today I found the work of Takanori Aiba, a Japanese wizard of miniature artistry with a specialty in making Bonsai treehouses and tiny tourist resorts from a parallel universe– no, not something you see regularly on a resumé these days…
He also encases them in those glass terrarium domes that are oh so trendy right now. This would be the star of any cabinet of curiosities if you can afford the price tag, reportedly $5,000 a pop.
Made with craft paper, plaster, acrylic resin and other materials, Aiba constructs his labyrinthine miniature resort communities that wrap around things like bonsai trees, model lighthouses, cliffs and fantasy islands complete with restaurants, cinemas and walkways lit with string lights. They’re just a delight to imagine yourself six feet smaller, exploring his architecture. And I think they’d make a perfect holiday resorts for Tinkerbell.
I got ahold of the highest resolution images of his work I could find so we can really have a good nose around. So gather round a little closer and let’s step into Aiba’s tiny parallel universe…
I think the South of France really needs a real-life Michelin Hotel…
Find all the full size images you want on Takanori Aiba’s Flickr page and keep up with his latest pieces on Facebook.
