Japan Pavilion, Art museum in the Giardini, Venice, Italy
The Pavillon du Japon is an art museum in the Giardini in Venice, representing Japan at the Venice Biennale. The building was designed by Takamasa Yoshizaka and features a compact exhibition space with natural light coming through a roof opening and a garden surrounding it.
The building was designed in 1956 by Takamasa Yoshizaka, who had studied under Le Corbusier, and was built with support from the Ishibashi Foundation. In 2014, architect Toyo Ito led a major restoration to bring the pavilion back to its original appearance.
The Pavillon du Japon is managed by the Japan Foundation, which selects curators and artists for each edition of the Biennale. Visitors can see how Japanese artists respond to global themes while staying connected to their own roots.
The Pavillon du Japon is in the Giardini della Biennale and is easiest to reach on foot from the Sant'Elena or Giardini vaporetto stops. Exhibitions are only open during Biennale event periods, so it is worth planning a visit in advance.
The building has a hole in the floor that connects to a pilotis space below, which is unusual for a pavilion of this kind. This detail traces back to Yoshizaka's training under Le Corbusier and is one of the few visible signs of that connection.
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