OMA completes first built project in Japan with site-specific installations at Edo-Tokyo Museum
OMA has successfully finished its inaugural project in Japan at the Edo-Tokyo Museum, which was initially designed by Kiyonori Kikutake and inaugurated in 1993. Over a span of four years, extensive renovations have enhanced the museum's structural integrity, mechanical systems, accessibility, insulation, waterproofing, and HVAC. The installations by OMA feature projections from the museum's collection, showcasing traditional Japanese motifs and scenes from the Edo period on the plaza ceiling and pilotis. Benches inspired by tsujiandon lanterns conceal the projectors. The western entrance has been transformed into a torii gate, and a circular sign inspired by an ukiyo-e portrait has been introduced. Shohei Shigematsu directed the project team, adopting a 'non-architectural' philosophy, following the 2011 release of 'Project Japan' by Rem Koolhaas and Hans Ulrich Obrist.
Key facts
- OMA completed its first built project in Japan at the Edo-Tokyo Museum.
- The museum originally designed by Kiyonori Kikutake reopened after four years of renovations.
- Installations project imagery from the museum's collection onto ceiling and pilotis surfaces.
- Projectors are hidden in structures inspired by Edo-period tusjiandon lanterns.
- The western entrance was refashioned as a torii gate per Kikutake's initial vision.
- A new circular sign based on a ukiyo-e eye was installed at the eastern entry.
- Shohei Shigematsu led the OMA project team, which included five other members.
- The approach uses projection and light to activate spaces without altering architecture.
Entities
Artists
- Rem Koolhaas
- Hans Ulrich Obrist
- Arata Isozaki
- Fumihiko Maki
- Kisho Kurokawa
- Kiyonori Kikutake
- Shohei Shigematsu
- Takeshi Mitsuda
- Sonia Grobelny
- Woowon Chung
- Mukey Pingmuang
- Paulina Beron
Institutions
- OMA
- Edo-Tokyo Museum
- New Museum
Locations
- Japan
- Tokyo
- New York
- United States