Bloomberg Pavilion | akihisa hirata architecture office

The ‘Bloomberg Pavilion Project’ will employ the pavilion in the grounds of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, as a stage for solo and open exhibitions as well as performance events by young artists who are resident in Tokyo. This pavilion that was designed by Akihisa Hirata an architect who has recently received a lot of attention both at home and abroad, will stand beside the main entrance to the museum and become a new symbol of MOT. The space within this pioneering structure will present a challenging venue for young artists and through it we aim to invigorate the Tokyo art scene. This project is to be held jointly by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, which endeavors to promote a new generation of artists through such events as the ‘MOT Annual’ and its activities in collecting works, together with the financial information provider, Bloomberg, that is engaged in philanthropic programs throughout the world, providing support for art and other cultural activities. Following on from the 2007 event, this will be the second collaboration in the series, which aims to support young artists and improve accessibility to art. All programs held in the pavilion are free of charge and anybody may enjoy them. October 2011 will see the birth of a new art space at MOT from which to transmit latest talent. I wished to create a pavilion that resembled a single tree. Trees have a symbolic shape. Simultaneously they produce shade while providing an ideal space for mankind. 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. The pleated surface was created using an extremely simple technique. It consists entirely of combinations of isosceles triangles in what is called a hyplane structure, producing a continuous curved, pleated surface. This basic structure can be repeated in a simple fashion to construct an organic whole. It is similar to the way in which a tree branches repeatedly in a simple form that assists efficient photosynthesis. What does nature or simplicity mean in architecture? This small pavilion poses an important question for the future.