He used the shape of a tunnel, slightly curved, so that the view to its other end opens only from the middle, showing to the viewer the roof of the entrance pavilion of the main building. At the exit from the tunnel towards the main building of the museum Miho, there is a lightweight 120 m long suspension bridge, attached to the exit of the tunnel with the help of steel cable structures. 80% of the museum building itself is hidden underground and does not disturb the peaceful beauty of the mountainous landscape.
Only a small entrance pavilion, which combines in itself the traditions of modern, traditional Japanese and Chinese architecture, can be seen to the viewer at this point. On the preparation stage of the museum project, Pei carefully studied the features of traditional Japanese architecture, the main principle of which is to connect the building with landscape, in order to erase the border between them, thus permitting one smoothly flow into another. That is why the museum building is surrounded by hundreds of hectares of gardens, planned by Nakamura Yoshiaki in collaboration with Pei. The key principle of the architectural design of the museum, like in other buildings, designed by Pei designs, is in use of natural sunlight illuminating the building through the glass roof. “Light is the key to everything,” says Pei. The art objects displayed in the museum are its third component alongside with the natural landscape and architectural construction. The architect spoke about the importance of what is shown in the museum: “The construction itself is, of course, important, but the content should be international, the construction itself is ”like a shell“.
The museum consists of the North Wing, which contains objects of Japanese art, and the South Wing, where works of art of ancient and medieval civilizations are presented. While choosing pieces of art, founder Koyama Mihoko was guided not only and not so much by their historical value, but also by the aesthetics of the objects themselves, their beauty, and the spirituality that comes from them. This is the main characteristics of the Museum collection.
You can learn more about the topic in the book-album "Cultural legacy of Central Asia in Japanese Museums" (volume XX) in the series "Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the World Collections".
The main sponsor of the project is the oilfield services company Eriell-Group.