Tadao Ando’s close three-decade building relationship with the Benesse Art Site in western Japan will celebrate a new milestone next spring with the opening of the Naoshima New Museum of Art, his tenth contribution for the cultural destination on Naoshima Island.

The scheme sighted the more than 34,000-square-foot museum to carefully integrate its hilltop surroundings, at the peak of which begins a progression down toward the structure that's finished externally with black plaster material reminiscent of burned cedar walls and ends in stacked pebble walls framing views from the Honmura district out onto the Seto Inland Sea.

The project was meant to showcase both a new permanent collection and rotating exhibitions of art from Asia, adding four galleries and a ground-level café to the location whose entry sequence draws out further connections between the space, land, and people of the island.

There are two basement floors and one above-ground, penetrated by a skylight that extends natural light down a three-story staircase to the basement floor. Ando and the Fukutake Foundation have worked together to bring art and cultural patrons to the community since 1992, and say their intent is to inspire visitors back onto the island for repeated pilgrimages. 

A museum press release noted finally: "The titular 'new' not only highlights a wider range of activities, diverse outlooks through art, and a critical stance toward contemporary society, but also reaffirms Benesse Art Site Naoshima’s ongoing mission to innovate and create new perspectives. It reflects a dedication to questioning and challenging established norms through artistic endeavors looking ahead centuries into the future."

The Benesse Art Site Naoshima was founded by Soichiro Fukutake in 1989. Ando said he was now "drawn more than ever to follow his liberal spirit and strong will now and going forward into the future."