Japan Society Atrium New York City
For Japan Society’s landmarked building on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, YUN led the architectural implementation of a design conceived by artist Hiroshi Sugimoto and his Tokyo-based architecture studio, New Material Research Laboratory. Originally designed by Japanese architect Junzo Yoshimura in the early 1970s, a focal point of the original structure was a central double-height atrium.
Due to new buildings adjacent to Japan Society, the atrium skylight delivered increasingly less daylight, causing the formerly lush atrium garden to fall into a state of disrepair. Through a series of strategic interventions, the atrium was transformed into an extension of the surrounding galleries, with new display areas on the upper and lower levels.
A large new wall, clad with Japanese cedar bark, forms the backdrop for a field of custom floor tiles from Nara, Japan on the upper level. Islands of black pebbles seem to float in the lower-level reflecting pool. Two bonsai trees stand out as living sculptures within a simple material palette respectful of the landmarked building.
