The work of art that I choose is the Miho Museum, designed by I.M.Pei. It is located southeast of Kyoto, Japan, near the town of Shigaraki, in Shiga Prefecture.


The architect I. M. Pei had earlier designed the bell tower at Misono, the international headquarters and spiritual center of the Shumei organization. Mihoko Koyama and her daughter, Hiroko Koyama, again commissioned Pei to design the Miho Museum. The bell tower can be seen from the windows of the museum.

After designing the bell tower at Misono, which is the international headquarters and spiritual center of the Shumei organization, I.M.Pei was commissioned by Mihoko Koyama and her daughter Hiroko Koyama to design the miho museum, from the windows of which can see the bell tower.

The Miho Museum is executed in a hilly and forested landscape. Approximately three-quarters of the 17400 square meter building is situated underground, carved out of a rocky mountaintop. The roof is a large glass and steel construction, and the exterior and interior walls and floor are made of a warm beige-colored limestone from France, which is the same material used by Pei in another famous work of architecture of his – the reception hall of the Louvre.

The Miho Museum has reminded me of Villa Savoye designed by Le Corbusier. Le Corbusier was an architect, designer, urbanist, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now called modern architecture. I.M.Pei was greatly influenced and inspired by his work, as most of modern architects do.


The reason why I think the Miho Museum is making reference to the Villa Savoye is that both of them make good use of light, allowing natural light to fill the vast space of the architecture. And both represent a simple, modernist style.