A competition to design a gateway to the city was sponsored by the City of Nagoya in Japan. The site is a "spaghetti" interchange at one of the main highways into the city.

Modern cities have evolved to the point at which the traditional defensive and control functions of city gates have been rendered irrelevant. The boundaries of cities have become blurred. Yet the notion of gateway as symbol remains important, although it now functions more purely as a landmark and a sign.

The unique shape of this landmark is intended to focus attention in the visual cacophony of the urban landscape. The ever-changing appearance of the luminous ellipsoid is designed to be seen by passing motorists as well as by pedestrians who can walk down to its base. The shape is made of translucent fabric supported by pressurized gas which glows when charged by electrodes; the color is determined by the mixture of the gas "cocktail" at any given moment. At strategic points throughout the city fields of sensors are located, collecting statistical data about various types of urban activity. A processor maps the data and converts it to electronic signals that send a charge to the electrodes which excite the gas mixture inside the ellipsoid. The variable luminosity of the shape captures the pulse of the city; each encounter with it is a different experience. The monumental scale of the 30-meter high ellipsoid embodies the power of the metropolis.

Nagoya Gate is a landmark which uses abstract means to identify the entrance into the city. Through its electrochemical mechanism it reflects the city's life-pulse in real-time. It therefore becomes an active emblem of the city itself, mapping its processes and symbolizing the urban energy.