Culture
Why teamLab Planets is the World's Most Visited Museum
teamLab Planets in Tokyo has won the world over with its immersive digital art, setting the 2023 Guinness record for the most visited museum in a single year.
teamLab Planets, the renowned immersive art museum in Tokyo, has recently set a Guinness World Record, marking a significant achievement in the world of digital art. The record was awarded for being the most visited museum (single art group), reflecting the immense popularity and global appeal of teamLab's innovative and interactive art experiences.
A New Record in Immersive Art
teamLab Planets, located in the Toyosu district, has captivated audiences with its interactive exhibits that blend art, science, and nature. The museum's unique approach allows visitors to become part of the art, creating an ever-changing tapestry of experiences that resonate on a deeply personal level. This record-breaking year saw an unprecedented number of art enthusiasts from around the world flock to the museum, eager to lose themselves in its mesmerizing installations.
According to teamLab, the museum's total visitor count from January to December 2023 was 2,412,495. Additionally, in Google's Year in Search 2023 rankings, teamLab Planets was ranked fifth among the "Most Popular Museums in the World," following the Louvre Museum (Paris), the British Museum (London), the Musée d'Orsay (Paris), and the Natural History Museum (London).
Highlights of teamLab Planets
One of the key attractions contributing to this success is the Floating Flower Garden. Visitors walk through a suspended garden of orchids that move in response to their presence, creating an ethereal and dreamlike atmosphere. Another visitor favorite is the Infinite Crystal Universe, an installation that uses over 50,000 LED lights to create a boundless cosmos, allowing visitors to manipulate the environment by moving their bodies and using their smartphones.
A New Large-Scale Area
In early 2025, a new large-scale artwork space will be added to teamLab Planets. This new area will include the "Athletic Forest", "Learn & Play! Future Park", "Catching and Collecting Forest," and more.
The "Athletic Forest" is a new "creative athletic space" designed to enhance spatial recognition abilities, based on the concept of "understanding the world through the body and thinking three-dimensionally." Visitors engage their bodies in complex, three-dimensional spaces in the interactive world.
Spatial recognition abilities are said to correlate with innovation and creativity. I grew up in the countryside, playing in the hills behind my house, but in today's society and schools, our bodies are fixed in place. Urban environments are surrounded by flat information such as books, television, and smartphone screens. Therefore, we created a three-dimensional space that demands excessive physical activity — a place to perceive art with the body.
— teamLab Representative, Toshiyuki Inoko
Catching and Collecting
teamLab's "Learn & Play! Future Park" is an interactive educational project designed to foster collaborative creativity, particularly among children.
It allows visitors to draw and bring their creations to life on large digital screens, where individual contributions merge into a dynamic, evolving world.
The experience is centered around teamwork and creativity, as the activities are designed to be both fun and educational, teaching the value of collaboration, communication, and collective problem-solving.
The "Catching and Collecting Forest" is a new learning space with the concept of catch, observe, and release.
Using their smartphones, visitors can explore the forest environment, locate various animals, and "catch" them by shooting an "observation arrow" at them through the camera. Once captured, these animals are added to the visitor's personal digital collection, where they can observe and learn more about them.
The experience is designed to mimic the natural human instinct of exploration and collection, encouraging visitors to broaden their interests based on what they discover.
Exploring with one's body alongside others, discovering, catching, collecting things, and then expanding one's interest based on what has been caught or collected — these activities have been a natural part of human history. For humans, catching and collecting is a joy, a way of learning, and a way of living.
— teamLab Representative, Toshiyuki Inoko
The Return of teamLab Borderless
In addition to teamLab Planets' record-setting success, 2024 also marks the reopening of teamLab Borderless in Azabudai Hills. Known for its pioneering role in digital art, teamLab Borderless has returned with even more groundbreaking exhibits that defy traditional boundaries to welcome visitors into a world of limitless creativity. This reopening is a testament to teamLab's ongoing commitment to pushing the boundaries of art and technology.
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Author: Shaun Fernando
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