This is a memorial hall for writer Ryotaro Shiba, a figure representative of postwar Japan. The curved pavilion is on a site adjacent to the garden of the writer’s own residence, located in a quiet residential area on the outskirts of Osaka.

The building composition is based around concentric arches that follow the shape of the site. In order to harmonize with its close urban environment – a densely-knit residential area filled with single-family houses –, the building is buried one level into the ground and only a two-story volume appears above ground. Inside the building the light gradually diminishes from the bright entrance to the rear, and it becomes a deeply shaded place where the central exhibition room is located. The wall surfaces of this triple-height void space are entirely lined with bookshelves. A single aperture in the sloping roof surface contains white and tinted glass with various shapes to let light into the space. The ‘multicolored expressions’ of light illuminating the darkness symbolize the existence of people with varied personalities and future aspirations embedded by this writer in his works...[+]