National Art Center, Tokyo, Art museum in Roppongi, Japan
The National Art Center is an art museum in Roppongi with an undulating glass facade that houses Japan's largest exhibition space across several floors. The halls inside are bright and open, with high ceilings and wide corridors that give visitors plenty of room to view the rotating displays.
The institution opened in 2007 and was designed by architect Kishō Kurokawa, who planned a wave-like facade of glass and steel. The building was founded as the fifth museum of the national art organization and aimed to create a space focused entirely on rotating presentations.
The center shows rotating exhibitions and holds no permanent collection, so visitors encounter new artworks from Japan and other countries each time they come. This approach turns the venue into a stage for contemporary and historical art in changing combinations.
The building is directly connected to Nogizaka Station on the Chiyoda Line through Exit 6. From Roppongi Station on the Hibiya and Oedo lines it is about a four- to five-minute walk from Exit 4a or Exit 7. Inside are a museum shop, an art library open to visitors, and several cafes and restaurants, some set in the inverted-cone structures of the atrium.
The center has no permanent collection, so its English name uses "Art Center" rather than "Museum". Its symbol mark, a red linear design evoking the character 新 ("new"), was created by graphic designer Kashiwa Sato. The building also appears in the 2016 animated film Your Name as the setting of a date.
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