Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum, Japan

This post is not about architecture as a beautiful object, and not even about pretty landscaping. But first a bit info about the building and then I will take you to the reason why this building has changed my life.

South view to the bridge dividing two parts of Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum

I spent only one afternoon in Nagasaki, I was in the rush, but still that was enough to get very positive impression. The city is very different from other cities in Japan. It is more European and at the same time even more different. The urban planning is just great – while walking around I kept thinking to myself that many architects and planners (including some people, that I know) should be sent in to Nagasaki, to learn some important lessons they must have missed in their lifes.

View to the bay from the rooftop of museum

Landscaping nearby museum

Designed by Mr. Kengo Kuma and NIHON SEKKEI, Inc., opened in April 2005, the buildings won many prizes in building and illumination design competitions. Comprised of two buildings located across a canal from each other and connceted with a glass bridge. Interesting design feature – vertical louvers composed of approximately 12 000 square meters of Brasilian granite. The louvers give interesting and interactive dimension as you move-by.  However the best feature of  Nagasaki prefectural art museum is the wonderfully done landscaping, green rooftops what almost melt into the surroundings.

Views from roof-top terraces

After going down from the roof terrace, I was enjoying the view from bellow and then… Two girls dashed through the bridge: one in a wheel-chair and another pushing her. They were laughing very loud, they were so happy. It struck me like a lightning: the buildings do need to be accessible for everyone. Now, after some time has passed since my visit and the understanding has settled-in deeply. The understanding and idea behind accessibility seems natural now, but was not up to this scale until that afternoon in Nagasaki.

The building is open and truly accessible to everyone (at the time the opening hours were already over)

Girls on the bridge came back and forth at least 5 times giving me plenty of opportunity to photograph them. The joyful laughter still rings in my ears up to this day.

Often people (even designers) do not take this seriously at all, even public and important buildings do not have ramps, or any means of getting there at all. But someone needs to understand, that not every handicapped person is an old drunkard who got in to such state due to his own actions (a very common assumption in the region where I live now). I must admit may times the regulations concerning handicapped people used to be seen just as a nuisance. Who has ever seen a handicapped around, but maybe THAT is the reason they are not visible? I will never be frowning again for making an accessible building; to the contrary I have since became an active advocate of accessibility!

Some more images from and around the museum:

The TU Delft central library, Delft, The Netherlands

The TU Delft central library, The Netherlands, designed by the Mecanoo architects designed in
1993 -1995 and built in 1996 -1997.

I walked on the green roof around the cone. The green roof was very pleasant to lay down and I could almost see myself happily rolling down the slope… However it started raining and I had rush down inside. The general feeling while walking on the roof  made me remember Oslo Opera House, I think the latter building was influenced by the former (also the shape of the entrance). The difference is that TU Delft library possesses feeling of human scale and the Oslo Opera house has much more sense of grandeur.

The entrance of the library is not accessible for handicapped people(that is surely due to building being relatively old, public awareness has changed, plus the laws have changed), and my attempts to photograph the front nicely were hindered by un-photogenic trash bins (what surely were not a part of original design).

Some more remarks about exterior – the random openings on the concrete wall by the entrance really amused me. Whether consciously architects realised it or not, the origins can be found on defensive walls and their shooting holes around the world, especially similar ones can be seen in Japanese castles.

Views of the library from outside and inside from the ground floor:

click image to enlarge

Interior was pure visual and photographic pleasure. Easy to orient oneself, bright colours, calm and inspiring environment for study. Atrium in the cone structure, brings natural light down to the very center of the building.

Some more images of the library from the first level:

click image to enlarge

The building won several awards: in 1998 National Steel Construction Prize by Dutch Steel Building Institute and in 2000 Award for the Millennium by Corus Construction.