Mori Art Museum

Profile

VISION
1. To present diverse forms of artistic expression, regardless of genre.
2. To assemble a collection of high-quality contemporary art from Asia.
3. To pioneer a new kind of art museum that is intellectually stimulating as well as friendly and readily accessible to the public.
4. To contribute to the growth of an audience for contemporary art, and to help invigorate the art industry.
5. To work freely with local entities, exploring new possibilities for mutually beneficial collaboration.
Nanjo Fumio, Director
Mori Art Museum
1 Nov. 2006

The Mori Art Museum is an unprecedented building type: an independent, world-class contemporary art institution located at the top of a 54-story tower. The Mori Art Museum is the jewel in the crown of the new Tokyo district of Roppongi Hills and the primary cultural component of the entire development.
The elegant 30m (100 feet) high entry structure of the Mori Art Museum is an iconic element on the landscape of Roppongi Hills, which gives the Museum a powerful presence at ground level. This translucent glass "Museum Cone" anchors the East-West axis across the site, the main organizing element in the design and circulation of the Museum, which corresponds to a major axis of symmetry of the Mori Tower. It allows visitors arriving from any of four levels - the traditional Japanese Garden at B2F, retail at B1F, vehicular drop off at 1F, and the main office plaza at 2F - to ascend to 3F and cross the glass Entry Bridge to enter the dedicated museum lobby in the base of the Tower.
The Museum Cone embodies the extreme integration of architectural and structural elements. At its center, a concrete-clad "funnel" contains passenger elevators and provides the main vertical support for the building. Coiling round this is a gentle, sweeping spiral stair, giving views out to the Japanese Garden as it rises to the bridge level. The innovative, ultra lightweight steel and glass facde operates on the principle of a hoop skirt: a diagonal net of 18mm cables acts in tension, suspending and stabilizing horizontal 22mm thick steel rings in compression which hold the elliptical conical form of the facade. Glass shingles printed with a translucent ceramic frit pattern are laid onto this structure, overlapping each other to provide protection against rain and glowing softly at night - like a paper lantern - at the edge of the Japanese Garden.
High speed elevators take the visitor from the Entry Lobby to 52F and 53F. On 53F, at the top of the Tower, the Museum's galleries are arranged around a rough sand stone Atrium in the core, forming a sequence of inwardly focused, contemplative spaces.
Points of connection between these two contrasting experiences are organized diagonally, along the East-West and North-South axes, and include the two art and technology galleries on 53F. These glowing glass boxes float above the 52F observation decks and extend to the ver y edge of the building, offering a spectacular view of the city.