The Seashell Gallery

Special Exhibition | August 4, 2026

The folded-plate roof structure further enhances the building's beauty, reminiscent of a seashell. Its strength allows for a dynamic, column-free interior space.
The second-floor exhibition room features a folded-plate roof that serves as the ceiling. Natural light from the skylight creates beautiful shadows. © FUMITO SUZUKI
The exhibition room on the first floor, shielded from natural light, creates a fantastical space reminiscent of looking up at seashells from the surface of a dark ocean. © FUMITO SUZUKI

A beautiful gallery by a master of residential architecture that brings out the beauty of seashells.

This facility displays tens of thousands of seashells and corals collected by Kazuo Kurohara, a Western-style painter from Tosashimizu City, Kochi Prefecture. The building was designed by Masako Hayashi, a master of residential design and a pioneer among female architects in Japan. Drawn to the fascinating forms and structures of seashells, Hayashi began the design process by working with cross-sections, aiming to create a spatial composition that would maximize the beauty of the shells. Particularly impressive is the view looking up from the first to the second floor atrium, which evokes the beauty of viewing shells in the dim light of the ocean. The skylight that runs east to west through the roof, the dynamic folded plate roof, the cantilevered staircase, the granite resembling sand ripples, and the wave-like lighting created by sculptor Minami Tada all contribute to a unique and captivating spatial design that enhances the beauty of the shells.

The Seashell Gallery
・Design: Masako Hayashi
・Location : 23-8 Tatsukushi, Tosashimizu City, Kochi Prefecture
・Use : Gallery
・Completed : 1966

Text: Yoshinao Yamada