National Museum of Western Art founded by Kōjirō Matsukata
History of the commission
The museum was built to house the collection of works gathered by the industrialist Kōjirō Matsukata between 1920 and 1923. His collection had remained in England and France until after World War II, when the Japanese Government asked France for its return to Japan. After France stipulated that a French architect should design the museum that would house the collection, the works were returned to Japan. Le Corbusier was selected for this task.Le Corbusier designed a masterplan to include the area surrounding the museum. The design itself evolved into a building far exceeding the original brief and the library, a small lecture hall and a room for distinguished guests had to be removed. Nonetheless, the removed elements were retained on the plans to provide guidance for future extension.
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