Chichu Art Museum
200best ES
Tadao Ando
2004
Type
Museum
Tags
cultural facilities, creative spaces, art spaces , 200Best, underground, remembering the cave
Visitability
Allowed
Description
This project by Tadao Ando is part of the Naoshima Contemporary Art Museum. The museum, spread throughout the island, has transformed it into a territory built through a dialogue between nature, art and architecture. In contrast to most museums around the world, which are designed as containers to be filled with works of art, the Chichu Museum was built specifically to house the work of three artists: Claude Monet, Walter de Maria and James Turrell. Chichu means creating a connection with the earth, and this is precisely the fundamental premise of Ando’s design. By means of a conceptual drilling operation, the different spaces open up to form elemental shapes and crevices that allow the mountain to be inhabited. Visitors access the museum via a concrete wall that leads to a tunnel and then to a trench, with one of its walls leaning vertically. At this point, visitors are already inside the mountain, interacting with the sky. Along the walk, courtyards alternate with interior spaces lit from above, where works of art are part of the architecture. The use of light and concrete as the only material gives the different spaces an almost spiritual touch. At the end of the walk is the cafeteria, which offers the only opening to the passageway. Finally, at the end of the cave there is a space to observe the sea.