Monumentality in the mountain. Hyōgo Children's Museum by Tadao Ando
24/07/2021.
[Himeji] Japan
metalocus, GONZALO GARCÍA MORENO
metalocus, GONZALO GARCÍA MORENO
Completed in 1989, the Children's Museum was a turning point in the career of the Japanese architect Tadao Ando, who until then had mostly worked in very narrow urban spaces. The project on the side of a mountain in the Japanese city of Himeji was one of the first opportunities Ando had to work on a large scale.
The project is a cultural and educational center for children divided into three different pieces, a central building that houses a library, theaters, and multipurpose rooms, a second building that functions as a workshop, and an open-air plaza located halfway between the two buildings. The whole complex is united thanks to a wall that runs through the natural environment with views of the lake.
The project is a cultural and educational center for children divided into three different pieces, a central building that houses a library, theaters, and multipurpose rooms, a second building that functions as a workshop, and an open-air plaza located halfway between the two buildings. The whole complex is united thanks to a wall that runs through the natural environment with views of the lake.
Hyōgo Children's Museum by Tadao Ando (1989). Image courtesy of The Museum of Modern Art.
Hyōgo Children's Museum by Tadao Ando (1989). Image courtesy of The Museum of Modern Art.
Hyōgo Children's Museum by Tadao Ando (1989). Image courtesy of The Museum of Modern Art.
Hyōgo Children's Museum by Tadao Ando (1989). Image courtesy of The Museum of Modern Art.
Hyōgo Children's Museum by Tadao Ando (1989). Image courtesy of The Museum of Modern Art.
Hyōgo Children's Museum by Tadao Ando (1989). Image courtesy of The Museum of Modern Art.
Hyōgo Children's Museum by Tadao Ando (1989). Image courtesy of The Museum of Modern Art.
Hyōgo Children's Museum by Tadao Ando (1989). Image courtesy of The Museum of Modern Art.
Hyōgo Children's Museum by Tadao Ando (1989). Photograph by Tomio Ohashi.
Hyōgo Children's Museum by Tadao Ando (1989). Photograph by Tomio Ohashi.
Hyōgo Children's Museum by Tadao Ando (1989). Photograph by Tomio Ohashi.
Site plan. Hyōgo Children's Museum by Tadao Ando (1989).
Longitudinal section, ground floor plan and basement plan. Hyōgo Children's Museum by Tadao Ando (1989).
Cross section, second floor plan and first floor plan. Hyōgo Children's Museum by Tadao Ando (1989).
In 1987, the Japanese architect Tadao Ando was selected to develop the project of a cultural and educational center dedicated to evolving the artistic and creative capacities of children. By being able to work on a larger scale than in his previous works, the Children's Museum allowed Ando to achieve a monumental aspect that he had not reached until now, and it was located on a hill full of lush vegetation and with views to a large lake outside the city of Himeji, in the Japanese prefecture of Hyogo.
Even though in his previous works Ando had not reached the degree of monumentality that he would later achieve in the Children's Museum, there are a lot of references to those projects in it. One of the best examples is found on the wall that joins the three main areas of the complex, which is reminiscent of the long wall that had to be walked to reach his Church on the Water, whose construction ended while Ando was working on the project of the Children's Museum.
If in his Church on the Water the wall was placed with the intention of blocking the views of the pond on which the temple was located, obligating the visitor to walk through it listening only to the flow of water, in the case of the Children's Museum the longitudinal wall extends containing the slope on one of its sides, and completely open on the opposite side to the views of the lake, which the visitor can intuit behind the lush vegetation in the foreground.
Even though in his previous works Ando had not reached the degree of monumentality that he would later achieve in the Children's Museum, there are a lot of references to those projects in it. One of the best examples is found on the wall that joins the three main areas of the complex, which is reminiscent of the long wall that had to be walked to reach his Church on the Water, whose construction ended while Ando was working on the project of the Children's Museum.
If in his Church on the Water the wall was placed with the intention of blocking the views of the pond on which the temple was located, obligating the visitor to walk through it listening only to the flow of water, in the case of the Children's Museum the longitudinal wall extends containing the slope on one of its sides, and completely open on the opposite side to the views of the lake, which the visitor can intuit behind the lush vegetation in the foreground.
“The wall which runs along the pond cuts through the slope of the hill and is incorporated in the architecture, expressing by itself a strong will almost like an earth work. The wall is recognized as an element of a space to create a space open to the surrounding areas. This suggests invisible roofs and walls to the visitor”.
Tadao Ando1
That wall is the one in charge of joining and spinning the three spaces that make up the Children's Museum complex. Of these three spaces, two are buildings, the main and the largest being the one located to the south of the complex, and the smallest, with the functions of a workshop for children, the one located to the north. Between these two buildings, in addition to the long wall that joins them, is the third space, a walled square that contains a grid of pillars and acts as the organizing nexus of the complex.
In addition to the tasks of being the organizer center of the complex, the walled square located in the intermediate area of the complex also serves as an open-air rest space. Inside the reinforced concrete retaining wall that shapes this plaza there are a total of sixteen nine-meter-high columns also made of concrete that are in charge of continuously redefining the views of the lake and the landscape.
Turning now to the analysis of the buildings, the main or largest one houses the functions of a library, restaurant, multipurpose room, and theaters, one outdoors and the other indoors. The building is composed of two staggered volumes of reinforced concrete that are arranged in parallel to each other, reminding to the Koshino House that Ando himself had designed and completed in 1981. These two volumes are separated by their shorter side by a pond and connected only by an elevated walkway.
Inside, the building has various exterior frames that make the user's way of perceiving the landscape be in constant change. Around these two concrete volumes, there is a large pond arranged in a staggered manner, reminiscent of a waterfall, that manages to reflect the large concrete building in its different water terraces.
In contrast, the other building, located at the northern end of the complex, is composed of a single volume with a square plan measuring sixteen meters on each side. The building has two floors and inside houses the functions of a crafts workshop for children, where they can freely use all the tools to develop their artistic abilities. The second floor has an open-air roof terrace that is accessed by a ramp and that serves as an outdoor workshop and as an observatory of the impressive natural landscape.
As for the materials used by Ando in this project, the use of reinforced concrete stands out again, where his usual poetry of light and shadow is constantly reflected. Glass is also introduced into the project, allowing a constant dialogue between the interior and the exterior of the building that helps the visitor understand better the natural environment in which it is located. In addition to this, Ando recognizes water and nature as architectural elements that help to configure the space.
The Children's Museum building was a milestone in the career of the Japanese architect Tadao Ando, who until then was used to working in constricted and narrow urban spaces. That was one of the first times that he was able to work in an immense rural setting, which allowed him to create a building with a monumental appearance never before seen in his work.
NOTES.-
1.- Tadao Ando. «Tadao Ando: 1983-2000». Madrid: El Croquis Editorial, pp. 248.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.-
- Frampton, Kenneth. (1991). «Tadao Ando». New York: The Museum of Modern Art, pp. 54-61.
- Ando, Tadao. (2000). «Tadao Ando: 1983-2000». Madrid: El Croquis Editorial, pp. 248-265.
- Ando, Tadao. (2019). «Tadao Ando 0 Process and Idea: Expanded and Revised Edition». Tokio: TOTO, pp. 168-171.
- Ando, Tadao. (2000). «Tadao Ando: 1983-2000». Madrid: El Croquis Editorial, pp. 248-265.
- Ando, Tadao. (2019). «Tadao Ando 0 Process and Idea: Expanded and Revised Edition». Tokio: TOTO, pp. 168-171.
More information
Architects
Area
Area.- 7,006 m². Site area.- 87,222 m².
Dates
1987 - 1989.
Location
915-49 Oichinaka, Himeji, Hyogo 671-2233, Japan.
TADAO ANDO
Tadao Ando was born in Osaka, Japan in 1941. A self-educated architect, he spent time in nearby Kyoto and Nara, studying firsthand the great monuments of traditional Japanese architecture. Between 1962 and 1969 he traveled to the United States, Europe, and Africa, learning about Western architecture, history, and techniques. His studies of both traditional Japanese and modern architecture had a profound influence on his work and resulted in a unique blend of these rich traditions.
In 1969 Ando established Tadao Ando Architect and Associates in Osaka. He is an honorary fellow in the architecture academies of six countries; he has been a visiting professor at Yale, Columbia, and Harvard Universities; and in 1997, he became professor of architecture at Tokyo University.
Ando has received numerous architecture awards, including the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1995, the 2002 American Institute of Architects Gold Medal, and also in 2002, the Kyoto Prize for lifetime achievement in the arts and philosophy. His buildings can be seen in Japan, Europe, the United States, and India.
In fall 2001, following up on the comprehensive master plan commissioned from Cooper, Robertson & Partners in the 1990s and completed in 2001, Tadao Ando was selected to develop an architectural master plan for the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute to expand its buildings and enhance its 140-acre campus.
