8/21/2019 araug01naito.pdf

1/2

materia

Makino Museumof Plants and

People is spread over the gentle

slopes of Mt Godai above KochiCity on the island of Shikoku.

Designed by Naito Ar chitect &

Associates, the place is dedicated

to the memory of Tomitaro

Makino, eminent scholar and

father of Japanese botany. This

inspiration, the museum’s

botanical purpose, and the fact

that Kochi Prefecture is an

important timber-producing

region, suggested wood as the

main material for construction,

and Naito’s manipulation of it has

produced structures of 

extraordinary poetic power.

Because of complex land

ownership the museumwas split

into two parts: amuseumwith

research facilities

exhibition hall; wi

linked by a170m To disturb the l

little as possible, b

are low and sinuou

organic forms hug

mountain contour

seemalmost apar

topography. Such

little resistance to

winds to which the

exposed and cons

account of the reg

occasionally sever

Neither buildingis

surroundingtrees

 The site, an ang

stretches across t

fromthe museum

the laboratory on

Double curvatureA museum on the island of Shikoku, Japan, hugs the contours of its mountain

site and celebrates the organic through form, materials and contents.

1Upper deck of main mbuildingwith centrallocal silvery cypressrsilver roof of zinc andsteel.2Exterior of exhibitio3Exhibition room of exbuilding.

MUSEUM, SHIKOKU, JAPAN

A RC H ITEC T

NAITO ARCHITECT & ASSOCIATES

site plan: museum to left, exhibition hall to right

1

2 3

8/21/2019 araug01naito.pdf

2/2

76|8

buildings, each on plan looking

like afossil, wrap round acentral

courtyard and are covered with

continuously curvingroofs. Spun

round the courtyards are

galleries, cafés, meetingrooms,

offices and so on. The museumis

equipped with a laboratory,

library and studies.

Enclosingthe buildings with

sinuous walls of reinforced

concrete, hollow steel sections

formridges, eaves and columns,

spanningbetween ridges and

eaves with laminated wooden

beams of Douglas fir. The roofs’complex geometry meant that

each beamis different,

connected at the ridge by cast

metal joints which allow for

variations in angle. During

design, wind-tunnel tests,

simulatingthe effects of asevere

typhoon, were carried out,

exertingapressure of over aton

per square metre on parts of the

roofs and building frames

adjusted accordingly. Roofs are

typhoon-proof with laminated

panels of zinc and stainless steel,

their unique dimensions and

forms achieved by computer-

aided design. As afurther

precaution against Kochi’s winds

and rain, the architects devised a

special gutteringsystembetween

each panel.

Sensually the interiors and

exteriors of the buildings are

distinct. Externally, the smooth

silvery forms of the roofs emerge

fromvegetation in serpentine

manner. Internally, the

wonderful scale and articulations

of the sweepingroof dominate.

Unlike its cool external carapace,

its underside is warmand red,

sheathed in the inner surfaces of 

Kochi-grown Japanese cedar

(sugi ). The upper level of the

main museumbuildingextends

out onto a deck where the wood

changes in response to the roof 

covering, to local silvery

 Japanese cypress (hinoki ). P. M.

Architect

Naito Ar chitect & Associates, Tokyo

Project architects

Hiroshi N aito, NobuharuK awamura,

 TetsuyaKambayashi, DaijirouTakakusa,

 TakuYoshikawa

Structural engineer

Kunio W atanabe, Structural D esignGroup

Photographs

Kazunori Hiruta/Naito Architect &

Associates

museum section

exhibition hall section

upper level plan of museum

exhibition hall plan

museum ground floor plan (scale approx 1:750)

1 m ain entrance

2 deck

3 shop -restaurant

4 audio-visualhall

5 m eeting room

6 gallery

7 studio

8 study

9 m achine room

10 Japanese room

11 office

12 laboratory

13 library

14 book stacks

15 storage

16 cou rtyard

17 lecture hall

MUSEUM, SHIKOKU

A RC H ITEC T

NAITO ARCHITECT

4Interiorsare dominatedsweepingwooden roof.