National Museum of Western Art

The National Museum of Western Art, opened in 1959, is Japan’s only national art museum dedicated to Western art in general.

In addition to the Matsukata Collection, which consists mainly of paintings and sculptures from the 19th to early 20th centuries, including Impressionist works collected in Europe by the industrialist Kojiro Matsukata in the early 20th century, the museum has a permanent collection of Western paintings and sculptures from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance periods to the early 20th century.

The main building was designed by French architect Le Corbusier, with the cooperation of his students Kunio Maekawa, Junzo Sakakura, and Ryumasa Yoshisaka for the design and supervision.

It is the only building in Japan designed by Le Corbusier.
Selected as one of the 100 best public buildings. Designated as a National Important Cultural Property.
The building is registered as a World Heritage site as a component of “Le Corbusier’s Architectural Works - Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Architectural Movement.

In 1979, a new wing designed by Maekawa Kunio was opened.
In 1997, a special exhibition hall was completed in the basement of the front yard of the main building, where special exhibitions are held.

Main Building
The building is square in plan, with the exterior walls covered entirely with green pebbles.
The first floor used to be a pilotis (raised floor) structure, but now a glass exterior wall has been installed, bringing most of the first floor into the interior.

The central part of the first floor is a hall with a vaulted ceiling up to the lighted windows on the roof, named the “19th Century Hall” by Le Corbusier, and is currently used as an exhibition space for Rodin’s sculptures.

A gently sloping ramp, rather than stairs, leads visitors from the first floor to the second floor, where they can view the sculptures as they ascend.

The second floor is a corridor of exhibition rooms surrounding a central atrium hall.
This is based on Le Corbusier’s concept of “architecture of infinite growth,” in which the building can be expanded outward and outward again in the future, just like a growing shell.