Hyōgo Prefectural Museum of Art, Art museum in HAT Kobe, Kobe, Japan
The Hyōgo Prefectural Museum of Art is an art museum in HAT Kobe that displays works by Japanese and international artists. The architecture uses exposed concrete, water surfaces, and natural light to connect several exhibition rooms across different levels.
The museum opened in 2002 as part of the reconstruction program following the Kobe earthquake in 1995. The building was constructed on reclaimed land in the HAT Kobe district, which was developed after the disaster.
The collection grew from three pillars—modern sculpture, modern prints, and art tied to Hyōgo—to which contemporary art was later added. In 2019 the Eikawa Collection of early-modern Japanese painting and tea utensils and the Meishu Shushi Collection of Chinese calligraphy and seal carving joined the holdings.
The museum stands in the HAT Kobe district, about 8 minutes on foot south of Hanshin Iwaya Station, 10 minutes south of JR Nada Station, or 20 minutes southwest of Hankyu Oji-koen Station; the Kobe city and Hanshin buses stop at Kenritsu Bijutsukan-mae. The building was designed by Tadao Ando with a route of corridors that loops through the galleries, so allow time to walk the whole circuit. The Ando Gallery, added in 2019, displays his architectural models and drawings.
Inside the museum there is a gallery dedicated to the work of Tadao Ando that documents his design process through models and drawings. Visitors can see here how the architect combines form, light and space with one another.
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