Naoshima Pavilion

The pavilion stands near the island’s ferry terminal, one of its main gateways, and was made to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the town. It opened ahead of the regional art triennale and has stayed on as a landmark that greets visitors arriving by boat.

It is an irregular polyhedron about 7 m tall, built from roughly 250 triangles of white-painted stainless steel mesh. The design team imagined it as one more island added to the twenty-seven islands of the town, a floating island in miniature.

Visitors can step inside. The mesh lets wind, light and sound pass straight through, so the pavilion reads as a translucent, almost weightless form that seems to hover over the shore and changes with the light through the day. At night it is lit from within.