KBDA
Project#:	1998-034
Recognition:	Honorable Mention
Name:	Uemura Naomi Memorial Museum
Location:	Kinosaki, Hyogo, Japan
Completed:	1994
Firm:	A. Kuryu Architect & Assoc. Co., Ltd
Architect:	Kurya, Akira
NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION:
The Uemura Naomi Memorial Museum was constructed in his birthplace as a memorial center to give testimony to his bold achievements. When UEMURA started on an adventure, he would never try to conquer the awesome forces of nature against him. He tried to make himself part of nature and followed suit after what nature offered. The planning for this Memorial museum started with the planners’ appreciation of Uemura’s respect for a meaningful dialog with nature. The fundamental goals the planners agreed upon were to preserve Uemura’s fundamental impression of nature as much as possible and to make the presence of the museum building contribute to the improvement of the beauty of the natural environment in his birthplace. While having a feeling of awe in the face of the mighty forces of nature, the existence of human beings, the power of will, and the dighty of man is also embodied in the museum. The planners thought it reasonable and suitable for them to realize an ‘environmental totality’ by integrating nature, architecture, and an exhibition all to represent the spirit of the adventurer. A seemingly never-ending single line path symbolically presents Uemura’s "Challenge to Distance." At the same time it presents the image of a crevice that cuts the ground surface sharply. Staring with an inclined approach, the exhibition rooms, library, and screen-projection room stand one after another along this path. The path runs through the building and further extends to the view terrace which stretches out over the pond. A glass-made skylight, which presents the image of an ice ridge, shows its surface above the ground. The skylight provides natural light for the underground path and also serves as a ‘memorial wall’ which carries descriptions on Uemura’s life and achievements.
USER ASSESSMENT:	Yutaka Shimizu Hidaka-cho
I am writing as mayor of Hidaka town who is responsible for the construction and management of the facility. 4 years of success have passed since the public opening of the museum in 1994. The project was conceived to let our children know more about Mr. Naomi Uemura, a celebrated adventurer who was born in this town, and call their attention to the wonderful world of adventures as well as the value and meaning of life. At the time, by establishing the facility, we wanted to provide opportunities for exchange with visitors and to encourage global way of thinking of the townspeople. Before the land development, we asked the designer to visit and view the site. As we also planned to establish a park, we invited three key persons: producer, architect and landscape architect. The site is surrounded by terraced fields which show a typical landscape of Japanese farming areas and gentle slope of hills and mountains around. It is a common practice in Japan to level the land before starting building constructions; however, the designer took a different approach to improve the landscape through addition of the building while preserving and taking advantage of the nature and landscape available. It resulted in the building integrated with the environment, and the area turned into an attractive park. The people in town including myself were attracted by this architectural approach and could recognize the beauty of the town anew. Visitors come downslope to enter the approach, see and feel the accomplishments and spirit of Mr. Uemura in the exhibition rooms and library along the two walls forming that passageway through the building. The simple traffic line of the building and the spatial arrangement, dynamic yet delicate, impress every visitor. In fact, the number of visitors have counted far more than we initially expected (two-hundred thousand). I am very much proud of the building and believe it was a good opportunity to learn a sense of oneness with nature Mr. Uemura extended through the development which made most of potentials of nature.
JURY COMMENTS:
The sharp, penetrating and linear path embodied in the form of this memorial effectively utilizes the natural environment of the site to challenge the hierarchical display of objects in a traditional museums.