LITERATURE REVIEW

It is a hidden mountain paradise where nature, art, and architecture are combined for people to experience and admire ancient treasures from near and far. Situated amid the abundant natural beauty of the mountains
of Shigaraki, the Miho Museum was designed by the Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei, best known for designing the glass pyramid at the Louvre Museum in Paris. Miho Museum is the dream museum of Mihoko
Koyama, the founder of the religious organization Shinji Shumeikai. In the 1990s, Koyama commissioned the museum to be built close to the Shumei temple in the Shiga mountains. The entire design process from
deriving inspiration to conception, innovation, development and actualization is metaphorically linked to Shangri-La, the Tale of the Peach Blossom Spring, a fable by Tao Yuanming during the Jin Dynasty in China
around 421 CE. It was about a chance discovery of an ethereal utopia where the people led an ideal existence in harmony with nature, unaware of the outside world for centuries. I.M. Pei intended his architectural design
to embody the essence of that utopic experience. This led to the creation of a breathtaking and spectacular structure that was embedded in the landscape. The hilly and forested landscape provides the ideal natural setting
to re-interpret and re-create the experience of the fisherman from the Tale of the Peach Blossom Spring, who was fishing by a stream in the mountains accidently found a wonderful orchard full of peach trees in blossom
continued with a peaceful village at the end of the story.

I.M. Pei's structure internalizes many visual and conceptual motifs from the legendary tale. As approaching to the subterranean Museum building, visitors will arrive at a triangular building, the reception hall that
includes a restaurant and the library followed by an open square surrounded by peach trees. A winding path of smooth pavement meanders along the mountainside become a tunnel bridge and then a bridge at the end as
the visitors find a spectacular and scenic view of the mountains. The bridge leading to the mountain face is a stainless steel structure, with a span of two hundred twenty metres. It is a metaphor of the rays of light (as
described in the tale) that radiates from the cave in the mountain. This is part of the concept design that enables the visitors to have an immersive experience.

The museum exhibits a collection started by the founder, Mihoko Koyama (1910 – 2003) which is designed to fulfill her vision of promoting beauty, peace and joy through art. It includes a wide range of Japanese
art, along with ancient art from Egypt, Western Asia, Greece, Rome, Southern Asia and China. There are over two thousand pieces in the permanent collection, of which approximately 250 are displayed at any one time.
In 2001, the museum acknowledged that a sixth-century statue of a Boddhisatva in its collection was the same sculpture which been stolen from a public garden in Shandong province, China in 1994. Highlights of the
collections have been featured in traveling exhibitions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1996, as well as the Kunshistorisches Museum Wien in 1999. I.M. Pei continued
to make changes to the design of the galleries during construction as new pieces were acquired for the collection. Pei had earlier designed the bell tower at Misono, the international headquarters and spiritual center of
the Shumei organization. The bell tower can be seen from the windows of the museum.

The museum is carved out of the rocky mountaintop and has a limited visible structures to act in accordance with the local government regulations. A three-dimensional framework is the main structural element
of the space frame to define the structure and to support the museum. It is a large steel construction that supports prefabricated glass panels to allow movement within the frame. A fascinating radial pattern is created
against the sky and casts dramatic shadows in the museum’s lobby and corridors. The space frame is attached to the concrete walls and the floor which is clad with the warm beige coloured Magny Dore limestone from
France (the same material that was used in the reception hall of the Louvre in London).

I.M. Pei's treatment of the building is where nature is the guiding principle to maintain a balance with nature. He essentially uses a Japanese design principle called shakkei (borrowed scenery). It is based on the
aesthetic rules and principles applied to Zen gardens in Japan. In most modern designs, it has become a purely aesthetic concept related to the spatial arrangements of various architectural and natural elements. I.M.
Pei's design made the most of the site location, that is, Kyoto. It is bordered on the north, west and east by low but very scenic mountains and borrowed scenery was easily incorporated into his designs. The Museum
design is both fluid and geometric with its space frames, underground interior space and the modern interpretation and adaptation of traditional philosophical and structural forms. In an instant it establishes that it is a
space where past meets the present. However, it is not always about linking and bridging two worlds. The idea is to create a structure that can connect and interact with it’s the surroundings. The design provides a
dramatic view of how new architecture can be fused with the natural surroundings. It exudes a sense of fullness and experiential richness. Such architectural experiments dispel the notion that a museum is a static
institution where nature has been conquered and culture has been archived.