Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2009

Visitors to the Kosho Ito or Mary Blair shows at the MOT—or those simply passing by—should make a point of checking out the outdoor installation by young architects Maki Onishi and Yuki Hyakuda. Among a number of Japanese figures at the forefront of a worldwide movement that blends art and architecture, the pair have constructed a fantastical space whose organic, stalactite-like protuberances seem to be a direct challenge to the austere, institutional design of the museum itself. Thanks for the installation go to media giant Bloomberg, whose Public Space Project helps to enliven a city where public art is a recent idea.

Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo
Maki Onishi and Yuki Hyakuda. Public “Space” Project: Cave in a Dream. Installation. Until Jan 17, free. 4-1-1 Miyoshi, Koto-ku. Open Tue-Sun 10am-8pm, closed Mon. Nearest stn: Kiyosumi-Shirakawa. www.mot-art-museum.jp