Architecture Travelogue 2025: Kazuyo Sejima for Hokusai ๐
๐The Hokusai Museum, designed by Kazuyo Sejima, is located in Tokyo's Sumida Ward and was built to commemorate the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai, who was born in Sumida and spent most of his life there. ๐His representative works include "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" ๐๐๐ and "Red Fuji." ๐At first glance, this museum, solely designed by Sejima, differs from SANAA's usual style. It has fewer elements of transparency, lightness, and freedom, and more of a solemn sculptural and mysterious feel. ๐บ This four-story building sits at one end of a park, with a visually striking facade made of a single aluminum shell without conventional windows, instead featuring geometric triangular openings. These openings are filled with glass curtain walls, and some are covered with metal mesh to reduce glare. ๐ The aluminum shell softly blurs reflections of the surrounding environment. ๐บBoth the shell and the openings work to reduce the building's massiveness and subtly connect it with the site and the surrounding community. ๐ฟ #Tokyo