As far as museum architecture goes, the Simose Art Museum in Otake, Hiroshima Prefecture, stands out, echoing the landscape of its inspiration, the Setouchi islands, which play host to their own influential triennale.
Two-thirds of Simose’s gallery space is outside its main building, split into eight connecting boxes that seem to float on a shallow basin of water. The box structures look like a candy-colored art installation, and yet they somehow blend into the seascape. At twilight, their angular forms light up to glow like gigantic lanterns for an even more spectacular view.
A visit to the museum, which opened in March of last year, is an immersive and twofold cultural experience. There are, as expected, the scheduled art exhibitions, but Simose also offers a comprehensive overview of the work of Shigeru Ban, the museum’s architect and one of Japan’s foremost designers.