Andrew Burns Architect recently won the competition for a gallery-atelier in rural Japan – Australia House. The competition was judged by Tadao Ando and open internationally. Their design is scheduled to be completed in July 2012 and will be a key part of the Echigo Tsumari Art Trienale 2012. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The Australia House project is a gallery / atelier for Australian artists to practice and exhibit in the Echigo-Tsumari Triennale in Niigata Prefecture, rural Japan. The project creates an apparently simple form, alternating in perception between an art object and a domestic construction. On approach to the site, the acute angles of the triangular plan are visible, presenting a dynamic edge. Upon entering the courtyard a frontal view is presented, an abstracted verandah with a more familiar domestic presence.
A series of hinged full height panels reference the windows of the traditional Australian Georgian farmhouse, whilst the inclusion of a daikoku-bashira (king post) and steep pitch of the roof references the Japanese minka. The envelope contains three gallery spaces (wide, long and tall) interlocked to create prismatic spatial composition. The building invites curatorial and installation approaches that engage with the surrounding landscape and the structure makes these landscape spaces present.
