Mori Art Museum

A timber scale model interior at the Sou Fujimoto Mori Art Museum exhibition in Tokyo, showing tiered music hall seating with miniature figures.

While travelling in Japan late last year I visited the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo where the work of acclaimed Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto was on exhibition.

Having visited Expo in Osaka a few weeks earlier, I was fascinated by his design of the ‘Grand Ring’ that encircled the exhibition, constructed in traditional Japanese ’nuki’ column-beam joinery.

 

It is the world’s largest wooden structure at 61,035 square metres and the timber is planned for deconstruction and reuse. It was an amazing structure.

Exhibiting an architect’s work is challenging – however the curating of Fujimoto’s work in this exhibition was original and included a giant 1:5 scale model of part of the ‘Ring’, as well as his inspiration for projects and scale models.

Meryl Hare

A 1:5 scale timber model of the Grand Ring, on display at the Sou Fujimoto Mori Art Museum exhibition in Tokyo, showing a visitor walking through the column and beam joinery.
Grand Ring: Scale model

Visitors walking beneath the full size Grand Ring timber structure by Sou Fujimoto at the Expo in Osaka, sunlight filtering through the column and beam joinery.
Grand Ring: Life size

“The essence of architecture is to enclose a particular territory
While opening it up to the world at the same time
By creating a form, the form disappears
The circle ceases to be a circle, and the place just floats
Just as a forest has no form.”

– Sou Fujimoto

A white sculptural scale model of Sou Fujimoto's Cloud Bus Stop, 2014, Krumbach, Austria, with delicate vertical timber dowels and a spiral staircase form, on display at the exhibition.

 

 

A page from Sou Fujimoto's sketchbook showing pencil concept drawings of architectural forms, on display at the exhibition.
Fujimoto’s inspiration sketches

A white scale model of Sou Fujimoto's design for the Tokyo Torch Tower, displayed beside a reference photo of the tower
Model for the Tokyo Torch Tower

 

Sou Fujimoto's 1:15 scale model of the International Centre Station, a music hall and earthquake memorial, on display at the Mori Art Museum exhibition in Tokyo
A 1:15 scale model of the International Centre Station (estimated completion 2031) – a music hall and earthquake memorial.

A wide view of the Sou Fujimoto Mori Art Museum exhibition space in Tokyo, with white architectural models on tables, suspended sketches and photographs, and visitors viewing the display

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