Watari Museum of Contemporary Art

add to favorites

send to a friend

Project Name: Watari Museum of Contemporary Art
Construction year: 1990
Website: www.watarium.co.jp
Address: 3-7-6 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku , TOKYO - Japan

Architect(s) : Mario Botta (www.botta.ch)
Project Category: Cultural | Museums

Latitude: 35.6707
Longitude: 139.713

Watari-um

Designed by Swiss architect Mario Botta and opened in September 1990, the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art (Watari-um) cuts a striking profile on the edge of Harajuku and Gaienmae. The abbreviated derives from the combination of ,the family name of the founders, and .

Exhibition Spaces

Although spread out over several floors, Watari-um's exhibition spaces all pivot around the cavernous second floor gallery. The lightwell on the fourth floor affords you a bird's eye view of works displayed below, and the glass-walled mezzanine of the third floor makes for visual correspondence between artworks displayed in physically separate spaces. Among many thematic exhibitions held at the museum, artists shown here include Japanese and international artists at all stages in their careers.

The first floor is devoted entirely to the museum shop, an emporium of designer gadgetry, stationery, secondhand art postcards, Frietag bags and leather products. The basement houses both a café and the revered On Sundays bookshop. While located in the Watari-um, this very well-stocked bookshop is run independently by Kisato Kusano, a true bibliophile.

Contributed by ArchiTeam