A virtuoso of painting – still creating his masterpieces today – deserves not only recognition but also a permanent exhibition space that’s open to the public. Dentist Kanji Kato, a pupil of well-known Japanese artist Kakudo Goami, was willing to back the idea with his own money and to contribute paintings from his own collection to the museum upon completion. ‘Goami paints striking images of light’, says Tetsuya Nakazono, a partner at Hiroshima-based NAF Architects, responsible for the museum building. Continuing his explanation of the link between the art and the architectural concept, he says: ‘In the museum, daylight pours through windows in the roof, a more focused light falls through an angular cylinder before spreading throughout the first floor, soft light enters through vertical slits in the walls, and fragments of light trickle through 432 glazed patterns in the concrete walls.’ The weather and the season also determine what kind of light illuminates the paintings on display at the Mecenat Art Museum in Hiroshima.