Ceramics Park MINO
Ceramics Park MINO in Tajimi, Gifu, Japan by Arata Isozaki, 2002
Japan's ceramic tradition crosses over with many
of its other traditions: tea, sake (rice), and
food, to name a few. The region around Tajimi - in Gifu
Prefecture - is one of the most important for clay and
ceramics in the country, particularly in the tea ceremony.
Ceramics Park MINO is a facility aiding in extending
this traditional craft, as well as a place to
view ceramic artwork, attend conventions, and
experience nature. Comprising the Museum of Modern Ceramic Art,
exhibition and convention spaces, a restaurant, a
shop and gallery, an atelier, a tea ceremony
house, and an observation tower with nature trails, the Ceramics
Park is definitely a destination place, its design by Arata Isozaki befitting its programmatic aspirations and beautiful site.
Access to the Ceramics Park from the parking lot is via a footbridge,
its concrete ceiling containing shards of broken
pottery, a hint at what awaits but also a gesture
full of religious and other symbolic connotations.
At the end of the long walkway, one reaches the
large roof plaza. The visitor is perched above the
Museum and the other uses, two light boxes hinting at
what lies beneath. Views to the water below
and the articulated south facade of the galleries
draws one to the main entry (left of the picture at left).
While the roof plaza is a generous space, it is
the Cascade plaza that is the heart of the whole
composition. Tying together the four levels of
the Ceramics Park, the plaza uses stairs to
connect the different levels as water trickles down sloping
walls to pools lined with different color stone slabs that
mimic the variety of clays found in the region. The
vertical surfaces that define the plaza vary from
light to dark, the former facing south to
illuminate that space, while the latter has a variety of treatments, including the ubiquitous tile as well as a waffle-like grid of open cells.
If the Cascade plaza is the heart of the
Ceramics Park, then the tea ceremony house is its stomach,
the Japanese equivalent of the Western heart. Isozaki
restrains himself and creates a
traditionally-styled pavilion opposite the rest of
the complex. Views towards the teahouse are important,
with a dramatic backdrop of trees and other greenery climbing
the hillside behind it. In the teahouse, the arts and
crafts of the Ceramics Park are put to use, fusing
with the tradition of the tea ceremony. Here, two
Japanese traditions reverberate together in a
beautiful setting that is a perfect synthesis of
old and new.
