Naoshima New Museum of Art

Tadao Ando has been working on cultural projects located on the Island of Naoshima in the Seto Inland Sea of Japan for over 30 years. His tenth realization for the overall scheme called Benesse Art Site Naoshima is Naoshima New Museum of Art which opened on May 31, 2025.

Ando’s first museum and hotel project here, Benesse House, was completed in 1992, and was followed by numerous other ambitious cultural initiatives – Chichu Art Museum, an essentially underground facility, was completed in 2004; Lee Ufan Museum for the work of the Korean artist opened in 2010; and Ando’s own museum, located in and beneath a refurbished traditional house, was completed in 2013. Naoshima and the nearby islands of Teshima and Inujima have become a real hub for art, including these works by Ando but also several other architects and numerous contemporary artists. The overall project was imagined and carried forward by Ando and the patron of the project, businessman Soichiro Fukutake, who has declared that this will be the last new building on the island that he will personally oversee.

Located on a hill about 30 m above sea level near the port of Honmura, the new structure is next to Minami-dera (1999), a163-sq. m wooden structure designed by Ando for a single work of artist James Turrell called Backside of the Moon. Naoshima New Museum has one level above ground and two below grade. Although its main volume is essentially rectangular, the structure has “an irregular floor plan that follows the contours of the site”. This aspect is expressed in a number of angled walls visible in the plans, as well as in elevation drawings and in some irregular interior configurations.

Proceed with your preferred purchase option to continue reading

Digital

5.49 €

Add to cart

Printed

15.00 €

Add to cart

Subscription

From 42.00 €

Choose subscription