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Japanese American National Museum
Los Angeles, CA

Set in the heart of Little Tokyo, the Japanese American National Museum is a vital part of the fabric of the Japanese American culture in Los Angeles and across the country. With ever-expanding demands for programs and shared curatorial resources, the museum found itself with a pressing need for space.  A combination of renovation and new construction has provided the needed space, tripling the size of the existing museum.  Designed by the architectural firm HOK, the new facility creates a modern counterpoint to the historic temple structure combined with a public plaza.

Lighting follows architectural metaphors as the passage of time moves from one side of the street to the other and continues into the new building.  Warm incandescent lights uplight the texture of the historic facade while white metal halide lamps sparkle from the eyebrow of the new curved glass curtain wall across the way.  The character of the exterior plaza is fully revealed as the sun sets and lighting control systems balance light levels inside and out.

Daylighting and electric lighting is balanced to provide a gradual adaptation from full daylight outside through a series of daylit lobbies and galleries to the most sensitive works in galleries with no daylight at all.  This required a team working closely together to create both systems and architecture to modulate light in a simple and cost effective way. Chimney-like north facing clerestories filter light indirectly into galleries with issues of conservation and flexibility resolved with uv-filtering glass and black out shades.