Mountain contrary: the center of fuji shigeru bana

Fuji World Heritage Center Fuji World Heritage Center opened on December 22 in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, designed by Shigeru Ban.

Related: Shigeru Ban: The Island of Music on the Seine

In June 2013, a unique dormant volcano was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. And in the spring of 2014, an architectural competition was held for the design of a new cultural center, in which the Shigeru Ban Architects offer was selected from 238 applications. The cost of the project was estimated at 2.4 billion Japanese yen. “I realized that I simply could not compete with the stunning form of Mount Fuji and went a completely different way,” said the Pritzker laureate in an interview with the designboom portal.

In addition to the exhibition hall, the complex also includes a small cinema, a cafe and a gift shop.

The total area of ​​the center is 4300 sq. M. Its composition is given by a truncated reverse cone formed by the trellised tree structure of the beloved Ban. The walls of transparent glass almost disappear, visually depriving him of support, and the reflection of the cone on the surface of the reservoir repeatedly enhances reception and introduces an element of the game.

Inside is a viewing room, decided in the form of a projection of the legendary volcano. Imitating the ascent, the visitor, following the example of a snail from the song by Boris Grebenshchikov, “crawls” along the Fuji slope. For a given path of 193 meters long, you can literally walk around the mountain, gradually climbing to the top and enjoying the photo panoramas taken at different heights on the road. As a reward, there is a separate room at the top, one of the walls of which, like a painting or framed photo, takes the view of the real Fuji.

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