As we were on-site during the end of construction, it was possible to see the building almost complete but still full of the activity of construction. The ribbon screen looked like a massive theatre curtain, and the construction crew like they were playing out a heroic drama.

During manufacture the steel ribbons were manually adjusted so that each appears unique. Part of this process was completed during prefabrication, when the ribbons where individually crafted, and part on-site during installation. This manual process of positioning ribbons allowed for variation and an organic appearance – no part of the finished screen was the result of digital fabrication. Design and crafting of the screen incorporated the functional repetition associated with serial production with the opportunity for randomness. Like all things handmade, the spontaneity of human intervention enlivens the necessities of function.

At night parts of the lit interior reveal themselves through the exterior steel screen. Looking up at the building, you can see the shadows of people moving around inside. Also at night the proximity and relationship to the water is enhanced – darkness dissolves the foreground and surroundings and the building sits atop its rippled reflection.

One of the interesting things about designing a building here is that small streets open up onto the site creating narrow views to the building. Also, much of the surrounding cityscape is made up of uniform box-like buildings which are almost all in tones of grey or beige. Dispersed within this uniform texture are urban objects like power lines and vending machines. In this context, the building appears as a red curtain at the end of the street activating it and turning everyday urban experiences into theatre.

At some angles the screen appears permeable and at other view points the ribbon screen becomes opaque. Sunlight highlights the opacity of the screen from these angles.

The exterior steel screen is literally a single colour. However, the quality of light, time of day, and angle of the screen can give the illusion of multiple hues. In full sunlit reflection the screen can literally disappear into the sky and one can see a gradient of reds and golden yellows.

In the “beige” city – the power lines, telephone poles, and urban infrastructure create “chaos lines”. The building provides “ordered lines”. Where the two meet, the building becomes a backdrop that helps to enhance parts of the city that might otherwise be considered banal.

Narrow streets and alleyways open up onto the site and frame the building in such a way that it becomes like a curtain backdrop for the scenes happening at street level. The city becomes permeable to the building and the building, in turn, with its porous screen becomes permeable to the city. One can exit an alleyway coming close to the curtain, then, where the curtain is drawn aside, enter the building. The interlocking quality of the building’s relationship with the city speaks to the nature of this urban context and it’s openings – the alleyways, small streets, and all the other ways people can come up to the site. The building is designed to be a backdrop to these urban objects and passageways, but also to be a surprise as it is encountered. This experience of mystery will be enhanced in different weather conditions, qualities of light and times of day.

Shadows cast on the walls and floor made by light on the exterior steel ribbons have the effect of creating a new material, turning the shadow and light into another screen – the convergence of material, light, shadow, reflection. There are also two kinds of reflection: the reflection of rays of light back onto a surface and the reflection of an “image” in the glass itself. Shadows on the wall become lattice-like, shadows on the ground become deck-like. The support struts that hold the screen also take on shadow and light. This latticing of light, shadow and solid materials is ever changing with the sun and weather.

The screen is activated in different ways by natural light and the shadows created at points during the day.

The Nebuta Hall is the largest space within the Nebuta House Museum. The floor plan is such that when a person stands in any one part there is always unseen space. An eight meter tall sliding door opens to the city and also allows Nebuta floats to be taken out into the city streets. The interior of the Nebuta Hall is black – literally a black box theater – and kept dark to be a muted backdrop to the Nebuta floats. The concrete surface of the floor has been ground down, polished, and stained black. This process creates a slightly rippled and reflective quality – like a thin layer of water. This water-like quality reflects the vibrant colours of the illuminated paper floats.

When sitting in the theater with the large sliding doors of the Nebuta Hall and theater open, one can see Aomori harbour and the Hakkoda mountains to the Northeast.

The waterfront is the one place on site where you can step back and see the whole building as an object. – in most other views it is woven into the streetscape. From the waterfront, the building is a mystery or anomaly in the city. The reflective quality of the glass behind the screen gives the screen an illusion of transparency as though it were really a curtain with nothing behind it but the city.

Daylight is filtered through layers of screen and sometimes through narrow openings into dark, cavernous rooms. The effect is reminiscent of being in an old Japanese house.

In the restaurant, looking down the ramp to the entry hallway one sees two hallways side-by-side separated by glass. One is a layered, screened space leading towards the restaurant. The other is the exterior covered passageway which is two stories high. The screens separate and abstract people’s movement to a blur in these two adjacent spaces. The rhythm of the screen also makes one aware of their own movement enhanced by the quality of late afternoon light.

Looking up the ramp towards the restaurant.

At the building’s entry the steel ribbons are swept aside at the base. Here it is possible to enter into a covered exterior passageway (engawa 縁側) that goes all around the building. This space along with the screen help to blur the distinction between inside and out. The screen is a layer that is not fully opaque or fully enclosed.

Entry hall stair to second level.

After touring the Nebuta hall, visitors come upon an area were most of the building’s spaces come together visually. A void in the second floor and layers of screen and glass converge. Depending on the weather and time of day a varying quality of light passes through layers of exterior and interior screens. Here a visitor can reorient themselves after moving through the dark museum. They see the restaurant on the right, shop on the left and Nebuta Hall behind.