Suntory Museum of Art Japan, Kengo Kuma building, Architect design images

Suntory Museum of Art, Japan

Japanese Museum of Art Building – design by Kengo Kuma & Associates + Nikken Sekkei

post updated 5 August 2024

Design: Kengo Kuma & Associates + Nikken Sekkei

Photos by Mitsumasa Fujitsuka

8 Oct 2008

Suntory Museum of Art Japan

The entire Suntory Museum of Art Japan building is covered with vertical louvers made of white ceramic panels. Choice of the latter has been made out of the imagery of earthenware and porcelain pieces that compose this museum’s collection.

Because ceramic panels are rather weak as material, they are usually thickened or cast into concrete for enhanced strength: as a result they tend to be heavy and dull, a far cry from the delicate imagery of a tea bowl. In this project, development of a new method of reinforcing thin ceramic panels with aluminum extrusion has made it possible to use extra-fine edges in the details. Our idea was to realize within a massive urban architecture an imagery so fragile that it may break if not handled wholeheartedly.

Suntory Museum of Art – Building Information

Design Period: Apr 2004 – Apr 2006
Construction Period: May 2004 – Jan 2007
Location: Minato-ku, Tokyo
Principal use: Museum
Site area: 68,891.63 m2
Total floor area: 4,663.23 m2
Stories: 6 stories, 3 basements

Design: Kengo Kuma & Associates + Nikken Sekkei
Structural engineers: Nikken Sekkei
Mechanical engineers: Nikken Sekkei
General contractors: Takenaka Corporation + Taisei Corporation

Photographs: Mitsumasa Fujitsuka

Kengo Kuma

Location: Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan, East Asia

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