Tokyo National Art Center

On our recent voyage to Japan, Tokyo proved to be our favourite destination – full of colour, youth culture, fresh design and architecture amongst many other things. One stunning structure which caught our attention, however, was the Tokyo National Art Center.

A stunning construction of glass and concrete, the building appears from afar to be more akin to a crystal than your typical building. The centre was designed by architect Kisho Kurokawa and located in Roppongi, the unofficial modern architecture district of Tokyo.

Inside, the building proves to be every bit more impressive. The expansive windows allow for immense brightness, illuminating the entrance of the building which nothing but vast open space. Structured concrete staircases creep up the perimeter of the entry, leading to other rooms at the rear of the building whilst a tremendous conical structure fills the emptiness.

Contrasting beautifully with the lightness of the glass and the cool concrete are the dark polished floorboards, peppered with circular air vents at sporadic intervals providing much needed air conditioning to hot little visitors.
The interior walls are a mixture of wooden panelling and smooth grey concrete, tremendous high ceilings and curving walls a welcome opposition to the straight, structured staircases, doorways and exhibition room walls.

We didn’t get to visit the exhibitions being held at the Centre, but the building alone was enough to cause our jaws to drop. The sheer size of the entry hall alone is astounding. The view from the top of the Mori Tower Observatory Deck demonstrates the contrastive structure of the building, the mixture of harsh lines and curving walls which result in a modern, fresh, clean and ultimately very cool structure. Though in Tokyo, you’d expect no less.