This museum stands in Hida-Takayama, a city set in superb natural surroundings with its own time honored traditional culture. With the idea that “beauty can be found in all things”, the museum houses a collection of late twentieth century European art, mainly comprising of items of glass and furniture.

We attempted to revitalize the hill on which the building stands and bring new life to the place by incorporating the building into the landscape.

The front garden, which was created by planning a combined approach and car park for the museum, is composed of a curved surface adapted to the gentle slope of the hillside and a flat area where cars can be parked between the trees. From the moment people park their cars and get out onto the hillside, both they and their vehicles become part of the scenery. The garden,, which is situated further up the slope, brings us in contact with the wonderful natural legacy that this hill has to offer. A stone wall expressing the vertical punctuates the borrowed landscape of the Northern Alps which lie beyond the town. This, together with a stone stage expressing the horizontal, will always remain there, providing a frame for the garden.