From ancient huts to lunar outposts, the museum explores the evolution of structural engineering

by glasmladih · 7 November 2023

What museum offers the “Sense of Structure” exhibition?

Until February 25, 2024, the WHAT Museum in Tokyo is hosting an architecture exhibition exhibition Titled Sense of Structure: The World of Structural Engineering that Models the Flow of Forces. Coinciding with the centenary of the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, the show invites reflection on how architectural design adapts to natural forces over time. Its main focus is to highlight the often overlooked field of structural engineering, which plays a crucial role in shaping architecture through understanding and manipulating forces and materials. The event aims to provide a tangible experience in structural design, allowing visitors to explore the creative potential and philosophy behind it through architectural models. “Visitors are encouraged to perceive architectural structures through their senses and to contemplate the flow of forces in this world through their senses.” Museum shares.

What is a Museum Display, Sense of Structure: The World of Structural Engineering That Designs the Flow of Forces, Image © ToLoLo studio

Header image ©designboom

EXPLORE ARCHITECTURE AT WHAT MUSEUM

Exhibition at the What Museum (see more here) consists of an introductory section and three themed sections, presenting more than forty structural models. The first section offers visitors the opportunity to understand the flow of forces in architecture by examining models of famous historical and contemporary buildings. The themed sections feature collaborative works between structural engineer Mutsuru Sasaki with architects Arata Isozaki, Toyo Ito, and Kazuyo Sejima + Ryo Nishizawa/SANA, a model of a lunar base camp jointly developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and structural engineer Jun Sato, and models Bamboo is used as a sustainable fuel. Building materials. The museum’s goal is to make structural engineering more accessible to the public, so in the spring of 2024, the second part, called Sense of Structure: From Horyuji Temple to the Universe, will be unveiled and continue to explore the world of architectural structures.