NATURE/ARCHITECTURE
Nature and Architecture: The Concept of Symbiosis Pervades the Museum
The museum stands inside a forest of trees, including clusters of huge, over 300-year-old beeches and tall stewartia with beautiful bark. Since the opening of the museum, we have championed the concept of a symbiosis between Hakone’s natural beauty and art. Believing that the preservation of precious natural landscape is of the utmost importance, we strive to realize a harmony between art and nature. We are also devoted to the conservation and regeneration of nature. The museum architecture blends into nature, and the Nature Trail makes the most of this environment. The concept of symbiosis pervades the entire museum.
NATURE TRAIL
The Nature Trail, stretching approximately one kilometer in length, makes the most of the rich environment inside the national park. A variety of encounters await visitors there, including stunning beeches and tall stewartia trees. The songs of wild birds can be heard in every season of the year. And you will also find sculptures standing quietly in the forest. Whenever you walk here, you have the sense that you are never far from nature or art. That’s what makes this museum different from the ones in the city.
ARCHITECTURE
The height of the museum facility was limited to eight meters to avoid surpassing the height of the trees in the forest. A thorough survey of the site was conducted before any blueprints were drawn up. As a result, the building exerts only the most minimal effect on the plant ecosystem. The museum architecture strives for a symbiosis between nature and art. And the interior is also filled with an abundance or light and greenery. Here, you can enjoy the art as if you were standing inside a forest. This is the kind of experience that we set out to achieve with this building.