Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum

Nagasaki, Japan

Photo © Daici Ano

Architects: Kengo Kuma & Associates

Location: 2-1 Dejimamachi, 850-0862 Nagasaki, Japan
Year: 2005

This museum is located in Nagasaki, the only port that remained open to international trade throughout the Edo period, when Japan was closed to the rest of the world. As a result, this museum boasts a wonderful collection of art from Spain and Portugal.

The site conditions were quite unusual, with a canal running right through the center of the premises. To integrate the canal with the art museum, I created an intermediate space alongside it that serves as a promenade for city residents as well as a place to appreciate art. This space is protected from the strong sun by stone louvers that create a breezy, pleasant shade. I developed a new type of supporting structure for the stone louvers using solid steel columns. Nagasaki, located in southern Japan, is known for its Colonial-style verandas with wooden latticework. The stone louvers I used here are a contemporary version of this traditional architecture; they are also a critical response to contemporary Japanese architecture that ignores both indigenous climate and landscape.

A box-shaped glass bridge crosses the canal. All visitors to the museum walk over this bridge, experience the water, and then continue into the gallery. The entire roof area acts as gallery space as well, and commands a beautiful view of Nagasaki Port.