MINAMIDERA

Two heroes that we have referenced in these pages are the artist James Turrell and the architect Tadao Ando.  So I am happy to report that I was able to experience a confluence of their output in one structure;  Minamidera Art House Project in Naoshima, Japan.   And the drawing above is the result of that experience.

The building is rectangular, low slung with a cantilevered, almost floating flat roof.  As I have learned with the works of Ando, the procession to the building is always a central component of the parti.  In this case, after traversing one end of the building, you wind your way around and into the space where Turrell has his light installation.

The roof structure is a simple delight;  it is comprised of nothing more than four levels of thin wood framing, each installed 90 degrees to the one below it.  The layering of the framing has to have been inspired by the typical eave layering of traditional Japanese temples.

This is the third of Turrell’s Ganzfeld installations that we have seen.  The first was at Mass MOCA, as summarized in a previous page.  The second was at the Chichu Art Museum on the same island that day.

By all accounts, this building was a total collaboration between the artist and the architect.  Both Ando and Turrell give great importance to how you approach and enter their works:  there is great ceremony and great anticipatory circulation.  The orange overlay in the above drawing demonstrates how there is a seamless transition from the architect’s needs to the artist’s requirements;  it was one uninterrupted continuous motion.