toyo ito: ken iwata mother and child museum in ehime

‘ken iwata mother and child museum’ by toyo ito, ehime, japanimage © daici ano

accompanying the steel hut and silver hut that comprise the toyo ito museum of architecture, toyo ito‘s third structure, the ‘ken iwata mother and child museum’ in nearby imabari city completes the set of architectural treasures that contain the same soul yet tell three very different stories. the roofless circular concrete structure forms an orthogonal C in section, open to the internal green lawn dotted with ken iwata’s ‘mother and child’ sculpture series. the horizontal portal to the sky grabs a piece of the japanese landscape on display while visitors are separated from their immediate surroundings in an infinitely elliptical journey around the works of art.

a micro-landscape of sculptures image © daici ano

sculptures on cylindrical concrete pedestals of various heightsimage © iwan baan

circular covered walkway around the central grass area image © iwan baan

entranceimage © iwan baan

bird’s eye viewimage © iwan baan

site viewimage © iwan baan

project info:

location: imabari, ehime, japanperiod: 2009.9 – 2011.5structure: reinforced concretescale: 1 storysite area: 1,912m2building area: 197.29m2total floor area: 197.29m2