Bloomberg Pavilion Akihisa Hirata

Bloomberg Pavilion / Akihisa Hirata
Posted in Architecture - Pavilion by * FORMAKERS |

Tags: Tokyo
The exuberant Bloomberg Pavilion designed by Akihisa Hirata is located on the museum
entry parterre to become its exciting new symbol. Curators plan to use the pavilion not only as
an exhibition space but also for events and performances by young artists working in the
Japanese capital.
© Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo

Hirata said that he tried to create a pavilion that resembled a tree, using the same logic. For
the Japanese architect, trees are highly symbolic forms because they create shade and can
offer ideal shelter and resting places for all of mankind, a function that repeats itself in every
corner of the planet. "I wondered what would happen if the walls were to keep growing
upwards and present an uneven surface like 'pleats'.
Pleats resemble a tree in the way that they spread out and capture the sun and I felt that they
would produce a bright, impressive exterior. I also thought that the space beneath this surface
would present a relaxed atmosphere, similar to that of tree shade that would be an ideal
quality for an exhibition space Hirata created a pleated metal surface, using a very simple
technique which consists entirely of a combination of isosceles triangles. Even if the resulting
shape appears complex—with its constant negative curvature—it is, in reality, a basic
structure for an organic whole with certain visual impact.
The pavilion, white and abstract, might recall the forms of cirrus and cumulus clouds or even
a crumpled origami, but it is inspired by the way the forms of branches work to create
efficient photosynthesis. This is probably the most mature example in Akihisa Hirata's recent
work. In fact, in looking at the design evolution of the young Japanese architect, it is clear that
Hirata has developed a unique style that finds it origins in his seven-year apprenticeship in
Toyo Ito's office.
He learned from his teacher how to unite mathematics and nature. This results in the fact that
he does not consider geometric studies based on algorithms and natural forms to be
contradictory.
It should be noted that Toyo Ito was one of the first to insist upon the necessity of looking to
nature in its organic essence as a product of genetic algorithms that can unravel the secret of
the growth of forms. In his early production, Hirata's architecture was inspired by the binary
system and he systematically proposed forms developed through repetition and variation. He
subsequently extended his interest to organic forms, reproducing them more or less
sculpturally.
In this pavilion, he shifts the meaning of his work once again, this time towards the
production of architectural forms that arise from active processes rather than from direct
formal interest. This passage is decisive because it provides for growth and expansion: an
open rather than closed formal system of transformation and expression. The Bloomberg
Pavilion Project is part of the strategy that the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo has put
into place to encourage a more intimate relationship between art and cities.
The joint project is carried out with the cooperation of Bloomberg, a company that thrives on
the information market by influencing decision makers across the world and that has
implemented an extensive philanthropic program. It should be noted that the pavilion space,
with its full schedule for the next year, will be, in any case, "raffled off" for the summer of
2012 in a competition open to under-30 Tokyo artists. In this project, the
architect/experimenter Akihisa Hirata, who is gaining great international attention, asks what
simplicity and nature mean in architecture today, posing—to himself and to the artists who
will exhibit there in the coming year—a simple but fundamental question which we all might
try to ponder.
.
Status:
Completed
Website:
http://www.hao.nu/
http://www.formakers.eu/project-43-akihisa-hirata-bloomberg-pavilion

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Bloomberg Pavilion / Akihisa Hirata

Posted in Architecture - Pavilion by * FORMAKERS |

© Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo

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