Benesse House Museum: Healing Nature with Architecture

Naoshima had long suffered from environmental degradation caused by the smoke of a copper refinery built in the 1910s. In the late 1980s, a grand plan was launched to restore the island’s blighted landscape while creating places for people and art.

Ando took on the task of designing the architecture to give shape to this vision. The first building to be completed was the Benesse House Museum, which is an art museum with a hotel.

The museum at the tip of the promontory, the “Oval” hotel on the hill behind it, and the stepped plaza adjoining a pier have been designed to blend into the landscape.

The buildings are hardly visible when approached by sea. The concrete walls inserted into the landscape create a beautiful contrast with the surrounding nature.

Visitors who alight on the pier are welcomed by a stepped plaza where a concrete wall framing the scenery heightens their awareness of nature.

The approach to the entrance is bounded by walls made of stacked white marble. The architecture further merges with the natural landscape as it becomes covered by plants.

The entrance to the museum as seen amid the overgrowth. The sharp outlines of the architecture contrast beautifully with the softened outlines of the plants.

The museum has a clear composition of geometric forms such as circles and rectangles. However, on the inside it offers a wide variety of spaces that unfold both vertically and horizontally.

Past the entrance is a tall cylindrical space that is illuminated impressively from above. By limiting nature’s presence to the single ray of sunlight, it becomes the protagonist of the silky concrete space.

The semi-subterranean gallery that makes clever use of the elevation difference of the terrain. The wooden floor, white walls, and daylighting strategy used in this space gives it a very different feel from the previous room.

Artwork is displayed not only indoors but also in the dry area and the terrace overlooking the sea. Each piece has been carefully positioned in relation to their specific location.

A view of the landscape framed by concrete walls.

View of the Setouchi landscape from Naoshima. The architecture both forms part of the island and creates a place for taking in the beautiful nature of its surroundings.

View of the Setouchi landscape from Naoshima. The architecture both forms part of the island and creates a place for taking in the beautiful nature of its surroundings.

Looking out to the sea beyond the green roof from the second floor of the museum. The concrete and white marble creates a beautiful contrast with the blue sky and waters and the green islands.

The hotel rooms on the upper floor allow visitors to take their time to enjoy the artwork and see the changing expressions of the architecture and scenery over the course of the day.

How can this beautiful landscape be protected and passed on for future generations? Ando’s project still goes on.