Tokyo’s Pleated Pavilion

Tokyo-based architect Akihisa Hirata has designed a dynamic all-white exhibition space called the Bloomberg Pavilion, to sit just outside the entrance of the Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art. The geometric structure combines references to the growth of a tree with the art of origami.

Inspired by the way in which tree branches spread out towards the sun, a series of white metal isosceles triangles burst from the central cube-like shell of the pavilion. This creates the appearance of walls that grow up and around the space in pleat-like formations.

The pavilion will play host to exhibitions as well as performances from emerging Tokyo artists.

Akihisa Hirata

Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art