D.T.Suzuki Museum

Tokyo Design Center inc. (TDC) Review

Architectural design by Taniguchi Yoshio has a strong connection to Kanazawa, the birthplace of his father, Taniguchi Yoshiro. It creates scenery that invokes the images of Kanazawa through stone walls and water scenes with green slopes stretching from the highlands in the background. The designer’s concept has been to connect by a galleria the “entrance building,” “exhibition building,” and “meditation space building,” enabling the visitors to navigate the spaces of three buildings and three gardens—the “entrance garden,” “water mirror garden,” and “open-ground garden,” thus touching upon a sense of Suzuki Daisetsu’s vision of Zen. In contrast to conventional museums and galleries, none of the works here are supplemented by an explanation or even a title. If the goal of Zen is to bring about the revelation of one’s individual experience and spiritual enlightenment, then this museum—where the visitors can freely experience its space without the intrusion of any preconceived opinion—is a proper reflection of this idea. The sight of the surrounding scenery mirrored in the thin water basin spread in the garden creates an image of perpetually eluding space.

Architectural design: Yoshio Taniguchi
Award: Ishikawa Pref. Architectural Award 2011, Kanazawa city Cultural Beauty Award 2012, BCS Prize 2015