Kisho Kurokawa’s last major building, opened in 2007, is a rippling glass curtain wall that encloses an atrium the size of a railway station, with two inverted concrete cones holding a café and a restaurant. The centre has no collection of its own and devotes its 14,000 square metres of galleries to touring blockbusters and juried shows, from Yayoi Kusama to the annual public art society exhibitions.
Go in the morning when the sun slants through the glass and the atrium is nearly empty, and look at the exhibition posters before buying. It makes a natural triangle with the Mori Art Museum and the Suntory Museum, the Roppongi Art Triangle, with a discount for ticket holders.
Tips
- Entry to the building, the atrium and the design shop is free, so the architecture costs nothing even without a ticket
- The Brasserie Paul Bocuse on the third-floor inverted cone is a lunch with a view of the whole glass hall and books up fast
- Several exhibitions run at once, including large public-entry shows by amateur art societies, so check which one you are buying