Untitled - Api-fellowships.org

MULTIPLE IDENTITIES VIA SPIRITUALITY, HISTORIES AND CULTURAL RE-PRESENTATIONS 159The Art Museum Seirensho, architect Hiroshi Sambuichi, artist Yukinori Yanagi (2008). Photos by Aroon Puritat.Teshima Art Museum, architect Ryue Nishizawa (2010). Photos by Aroon PuritatNot long after, in 2010, to be exact, the NaoshimaFukutake Art Museum Foundation opened theTeshima Art Museum. The museum that covers 2,334square meters is situated on the hill overlooking apanoramic sea view. This small museum only exhibitsthe works of the female artist Rei Naito, a naturalobserver who picks up on natural phenomena whatmost people tend to overlook, and visualizes them intointriguing artworks, among them her delicate, barelyvisible sculpture that transforms the “wind” into anintriguing visual perception.The Teshima Art Museum is a collaboration of ReiNaito and the architect Ryue Nishizawa. The artist’sdecision to present water and different naturalphenomena involving water has resulted in the liquidlikeshaped architecture. Reinforced concrete is notused to create a normal beam structure, but to form aconcrete shell structure. The construction process isbegun by piling up the earth to create massive curvyhill masses onto which the concrete is poured, coveringentire earth hills. After the concrete is set, the earth isdug out, creating massive voids, which become theinterior spaces of the museum.Once at the museum, the viewers are guided to walkthrough the designated path before entering theexhibition space where Rei Naito’s works are installed.The exhibition area is filled with water droplets thatmove around in different directions as a result of thespecially coated floor. When rainwater comes down,the viewers are able to see the natural, real-timemovements of water and wind, Massive openingsarchitecturally and artistically enhance the building toembrace every natural presence—from the wind, therain, sunshine, and snow, to the birds and insects.Several projects initiated by the Naoshima FukutakaArt Museum foundation manifest the attempts tocreate new programs in the art museums of the early21 st century. Such attempts include the dispersion ofmuseums from the high-density urban fabric todifferent venues in the rural areas surrounded bybeautiful nature. They also include the design andconstruction of architecture that accommodate onlyone specific artistic creation. This has resulted in amore collaborative process between architecture andart, not to mention consideration for creatingenvironmentally friendly architecture. Art museumsThe Work of the 2010/2011 API Fellows