Fukushima Lagoon Museum 1997

This museum dedicated to the ecology of Fukushima Lagoon is an upside down cone whose 16 meter diameter base expands to 28 meters at its seventh floor summit. A spiral staircase connects the first floor entrance to the top floor, with the spiral slope from the fourth to seventh floors serving as an exhibit gallery with a 360-degree view for appreciating the surrounding lagoon through the glass wall.
During the day, the space absorbs more than enough natural light and provides a sweeping view of the lagoon, while at night, light from the interior floods into the surroundings as if releasing the energy taken in during the day. This is the kind of beautiful landmark we wanted the museum to become. The museum’s shimmering reflection in the jet black lagoon is like a ship in space.