Five years ago, the renowned architect Hiroshi Naito was asked for an unusual request: he was asked to design a five -story structure in the middle of Tokyo without specific purpose. The Rinri Institute of Ethics, a private social education organization, gave him a free reign and suggested that the function of the building was decided according to its design. So Kioi Seido, also known as “the building without purpose”, was brought to life.
Well, not quite free. After an explanation by Naito, which was distributed at the exhibition: “The only order from my customer was that I was thinking about the Jomon [period]”-a prehistoric era of Japanese history, which was known for its mysterious sound figures, pottery and an aesthetics that feels both old and strangely abstract.
“I think what they wanted was something that was not bound to capitalism or current common sense, but something that would stir feelings,” he continues. The resulting structure is understated and yet beyond the world – a synthesis of warm and cool tones, earthy and industrial textures that are united in order to familiarize and disoregate an atmosphere.
Today Kioi Seido stands for a small intersection in the heart of the city of Chiyoda. As a quiet extraordinary sanctuary, it can escape your termination at first glance. As a rule, it is not open to the public inspection, but only for a limited time – until September 30 – In order to be precise, a special exhibition enables visitors to enter the building for the first time in two years.
It is not just a rare chance to see the hypnotic beauty of its interior first hand. The exhibition also shows Diaries and Sketches by Naito for 40 years.
A crack in the extraordinary
“If you are in this mysterious room in which the first floor extends deep to the old Jomon time and the second floor and over the future, you will forget the routine of everyday life and a crack in the extraordinary ethics institute in Rinri Institute.
Although it is not immediately apparent from the outside, Kioi Seido's concrete cubes are supported by four polygonal columns. You coconry an installation on the ground floor, in which 18,800 glass pieces are placed in a ring formation and represent someone who is lost in the large earthquake in Ostjapan from 2011.
Requiem for the big earthquake in East Japan
Form warm cedar boards from the second floor, exposed concrete and bars a four -story atrium that is wrapped in light and shadow. Nine craters on the ceiling form Sky lights, which at the same time feel futuristic and timelessly and taper up in a light curve. When you climb up every story and walk around, every angle offers a new perspective.
The modern pantheon
The rise of Kioi Seido's stairs is a peaceful, calming experience, but also strangely hypnotic – it feels as if they are suspended in time and space and are divorced from the outside world.
Naito was attracted to the pantheon in Rome, the only Roman building that has been practically intact for centuries. He tried to create something immortal and naturally magnet. “Neither the purpose nor the function of [the Pantheon] is well understood, “says Naito's statement.” If the question should be pointless, I wanted to build a modern pantheon. ”
At the design of Kioi Seido, Naito dealt with questions of tradition and modernity, which the architect Seichi Shirai asks. In his extremely influential essay “The Jomon Style” (1956), Shirai uses the raw, immediate aesthetic sensitivity of Jomon periods as vehicles to argue that architects have to look beyond easily recognizable stylistic elements and have to concentrate on the “inner potential” – the underlying spirit – of shaping.
“I believe [Shirai’s inquiry] Was an alarm bell for a society that sought after a quick modernization, ”notes Naito.
Naito is likely to refer to the so -called “Jomon -yayoi -Dichotomy”, a concept that was obtained from Japanese architects in the post -war period. From a broader national conversation about identity and tradition, the debate was aimed at whether the Japanese architecture should be inspired by the raw, expressive forms of the Jomon period or the more sophisticated, ordered aesthetics of the Yayoi era. With raw concrete, a material and glass that has been used since ancient times, a very precise and sophisticated industrial product, Naito symbolically merges the elements of tradition and modernity into a harmonious whole.
While the complexity and beauty of the building alone is reason enough to visit, the exhibition of Naito's meticulous grades, sketches and diaries offers a fascinating insight into his mind. From the second floor you can browse through plans, inspiration and thoughts 40 years. On the bottom of the atrium there is an installation called “Mandala of Words”, which shows fragments from Naito's writings.
About Hiroshi Naito
Hiroshi Naito was born in Yokohama in 1950, Kanagawa Prefecture, and is one of the most celebrated and visionary architects of Japan. After acquiring a Bachelor and Master graduation in architecture from Waseda University, he worked under architect Fernando Higueras in Madrid and under architect Kiyonori Kikutake in Tokio. Naito founded his own company Naito Architect & Associates in 1981 and was a professor at the University of Tokyo from 2001 to 2011 when he became an emeritus professor.
His most important architectural works include the Toba Sea-Folk Museum (1992), the Shimane Arts Center (2005) and the Kusunagi Sports Complex Gymnasium (2015). Naito's creations emphasize the harmony between the built environment and its natural environment with a focus on technical durability and sustainability. His gently minimalist works often balance wood and emphasis textures and call up warmth and humility.
More information
Exhibition title:
“Architect Hiroshi Naito – everything and every: diaries and sketches of thoughts in Kioi Seido”
Data & hours:
July 1st – September 30, 2025
Open Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays (without holidays and closure data: 12th, 14th, 16th, 16th, September 23rd), from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (last entry 3:30 p.m.)
Permit:
Free, no reservation required
Address:
Kioi Seido, Ethics Research Institute
3-1 Kiioicho, Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo
(10 minutes from JR Yotsuya / 5–6 minutes from the nearby U -Bahn stations) away)
Notes:
– no parking or luggage storage
– no high heels allowed inside
– Toilets on the first floor
– Photography is allowed without tripods
– Please refrain