Japanese Architecture Spotlighted at the Mori Art Museum

Because it’s guarded by a Louise Bourgeois Maman — a giant sculpture in spider form created by the French artist — the hike to Roppongi to visit the Mori Art Museum is all worth it. Yet, once inside, the quality of the programming is even more spectacular.

From April 25 through September 17, the institution is to host the exhibition Japan in Architecture, retracing the genealogy and the evolutions of Japanese architecture. With a ceaseless drive towards renewal and progress by an impetuous nature, the island nation perpetually sets itself the task of proving its creativity and rigorous reinvention. From wood to concrete, the Mori Art Museum retraces the past and the present of Japanese urbanism in order to better speculate on the future.

While a number of exhibitors have gained international renown, the exhibition questions the ways in which, and the extent to which Japanese construction techniques might respond to the needs of heterogeneous regions. The exhibition will equally look at the idea of universality at the heart of this humble, yet progressive architectural tradition as a template to be reproduced.