Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum Office Building

The Office Building by the Entrance

The Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum Office Building (白鶴美術館事務棟) is the museum's office building of 1934 in Sumiyoshiyamate, Higashinada Ward, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on November 18, 1999 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a reinforced concrete building of 2 storeys above ground and 1 below, with a building area of 301 square metres; registration number 28-0058.

The Working Building at the Gate

The Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum Office Building stands on the entrance side of the site (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The ground floor holds the office and a reception room, the upper floor a meeting room, and the basement an unpacking room among others: the rooms that keep the museum running are gathered under one roof.

Like the main building, the Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum Office Building is described in the Agency's commentary as steel-framed reinforced concrete in Japanese style, though the structure field simply says reinforced concrete. A corridor 8 ken long joins it to the main building, with the storehouse standing partway along.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency registered the Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum Office Building as a model of design, pointing out that, in contrast to the temple-like main building, it takes the plain look of Shinkabe timber framing and an easy, asymmetrical composition.

What to Look For

At the Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum Office Building, look for the contrast with the main building. Where the main building is weighty and temple-like, the office echoes the posts and panels of a timber house in concrete and does not insist on symmetry (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Two buildings of the same year and the same structure were given clearly different faces.

Visiting

The Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum Office Building houses offices and a meeting room, and there is no official information on visiting the interior. Standing by the entrance, it is seen on the way in, but it is worth checking on arrival where it can be viewed from. Opening dates and directions are on the Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum page.