Simose Art Museum Wins UNESCO’s Prix Versailles; Hiroshima Prefecture Museum Was Judged ‘World’s Most Beautiful’

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:00 JST, February 2, 2025

HIROSHIMA — Simose Art Museum, which sits on the coast of the Seto Inland Sea, won this year’s Prix Versailles, a prize awarded by UNESCO to buildings judged the “world’s most beautiful” in various categories.

The museum, in Otake, Hiroshima Prefecture, was planned by world-renowned architect Shigeru Ban. It was praised for aspects of its design such as the use of motifs inspired by the natural beauty of the sea, among others.

Simose Art Museum opened in March 2023, displaying Japanese dolls collected by the Shimose family, who founded Marui Sangyo Corp., a building materials manufacturer based in Hiroshima’s Nishi Ward, and glassworks by French artist Emile Galle.

To mark the 10th year since the 2015 establishment of the Prix Versailles, “Museums” were added to the seven existing award categories, which also include “Hotels” and “Airports.”

The Prix Versailles World Ceremony was held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris in December, and Simose Art Museum was chosen as the best among the seven nominated museums in China, Egypt and elsewhere.

The museum is an art complex comprising several kinds of architecture. Especially highly regarded were its eight movable box-shaped galleries, which stand in a basin of water and are each covered with different shades of colored glass, including blue, yellow and pink. These galleries were designed to resemble the islands of the Seto Inland Sea, and they float when the basin’s water level is raised, allowing them to be rearranged without the use of heavy machinery.

“The museum was highly evaluated for its innovative design that makes the most of the environment facing the sea,” Ban said. “I am grateful that I was allowed free rein in designing it.”