Teshima Art Museum
Location: Island of Teshima
Status: Completed

Uniting the creative visions of artist Rei Naito and architect Ryue Nishizawa, Teshima Art Museum stands on a hill on the island of Teshima overlooking the Seto Inland Sea. The museum, which resembles a water droplet at the moment of landing, is located in the corner of a rice terrace that was restored in collaboration with local residents.

Structurally, the building consists of a concrete shell, devoid of pillars, coving a space about 40 by 60 meters and with a maximum height of 4.3 meters. Two oval openings in the shell allow wind, sounds, and light of the world outside into this organic space where nature and architecture intimately interconnect. In the interior space, water continuously springs from the ground in a day long motion. This setting, in which nature, art and architecture come together with such limitless harmony, conjures an infinite array of impressions with the passage of seasons and the flow of time.

The architect Ryue Nishizawa was born in Tokyo, 1966. He had a degree in M.A. (Architecture), Yokohama National University. Joined Kazuyo Sejima & Associates in 1990, established SANAA with her in 1995, established Office of Ryue Nishizawa in 1997. Professor at Yokohama Graduate School of Architecture. Recipient of international awards, including the Gold Lion at the 9th Venice Architecture Biennale, in 2004, and the Pritzker Prize in 2010. Significant Works: Weekend House (1998, Gunma), 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa* (2004, Ishikawa), Honmura Lounge & Archive (2004, Naoshima, Kagawa), Moriyama House (2002-05, Tokyo), Marine Station Naoshima* (2006, Naoshima), Towada Art Center (2008, Aomori). The Teshima Art Museum was awarded the 25th Murano Togo Prize in 2011.*co-designed with Sejima Kazuyo.

more. www.benesse-artsite.jp/en/