Architecture that merges wood and concrete
Ando Museum was established by the world-famous architect Tadao Ando in tandem with the opening of the Seto Inland Sea International Art Festival 2013. Ando himself designed the museum within a restored 100-year-old house situated close to his own house project of Minamidera in an old townscape remaining in Honmura District. White its exterior retains its status as a house, the interior is a double-layered inner space framed by bare concrete walls, and while the museum has taken due consideration for the streets of Naoshima, the building is a work in itself incorporating Ando elements down to the last detail such as the slanted walls, the ring-shaped room and the way of introducing light. It not only has taken into mind its formative beauty but it has also been functionally designed to allow light in efficiently to spread out throughout the whole room, at the same time allowing management of the space so that the environment can be controlled through the power of nature.
Learn about Ando’s activities and the history of Naoshima
The models, photographs and sketches for the projects that Ando has tackled on Naoshima such as Benesse House, Chichu Museum, and Lee Ufan Museum are introduced, and furthermore, information regarding his career, and a model and photos of his signature work, The Church of Light, are also exhibited. Also, the change and transfiguration that has made up the recent history of Naoshima are also introduced. At the museum shop, postcards and other stationery related to Ando are sold along with items that have his signature and drawings. If you visit the museum after touring some of his other works on the island, you will get an even deeper understanding. The museum is very small, but the labors of his designs have been condensed so that it is truly a place that will want to be visited by his fans.