Himeji City Museum of Literature
Tadao Ando · Himeji, Japan · 1991
Tadao Ando uses the steep site to assemble concrete walls, ramps, cylindrical elements and water into a sequence of changing levels. The museum's geometry is intentionally indirect: views of Himeji Castle and the surrounding city appear only after a series of compressed passages and turns. It is a strong early-1990s example of Ando treating circulation itself as the primary architectural experience.