Museum of Japanese Contemporary Art Little Tokyo, Los Angeles
The museum of Japanese contemporary art is centered around the idea of carving out volumes to create space. The museum is located on east first street in Little Tokyo. The program of the library is separated so that the user must travel up or down from the ground level to reach an exhibit. The ground floor houses the bookstore and much of the service spaces. The second floor houses the lobby, auditorium, and the first exhibit. The remaining floors feature an outdoor café and multiple exhibition spaces ranging in size and height. As mentioned, the main idea of the design was to utilize a carving process to create space.In section, the carving process used to create the spaces in the museum resulted in volumes that seem to float above the lower levels. Then the ground floor was done by carving out circulation resulting in unique spaces and the exhibit spaces were done by carving spaces out that still preserved the flat walls needed for art. This process also created a connection between the bottom levels and the top levels which can be seen with the main staircase that runs the length of the museum. This stair acts as an exterior passage from the ground floor to the second floor. This allows the public to pass through the museum without actually entering it. The café on the third floor has been opened to the outside by carving out a hole in the exterior wall turning what seems to be an interior space into an open exterior experience overlooking east first street. The upper spaces of the museum are delineated by small elevational changes that are connected by a series of long ramps. This is seen by a ramp connecting the café to the exhibit on the third floor and the ramp connecting the two exhibits on the fourth floor. On the second floor, the carving process created a ceiling that ramps up to create a sense of compression and expansion inside the lobby space and the ceiling on the third and fourth floors undulates and unveils creating skylights that highlight key moments in the museum. Finally, the fluid yet imperfect form as a result of the carving process is inspired by a traditional Japanese aesthetic called “WabiSabi.” “The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of appreciating beauty that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete” in nature.” This acceptance and contemplation of imperfection and constant flux and impermanence of all things is particularly indispensable to Japanese art and culture.
