Tottori
Prefecture is promoting itself as the birthplace of children's
songs. When the city of Tottori in 1989 drew up plans to celebrate
the centenary of its founding, they decided to build the Warabe
Museum introduced here, and use it not only as a showplace for
children's songs but as the site of a Toys of the World exhibition.
Built as a joint venture of Tottori city and prefecture, the building
was originally to be called the "Children's Song Museum and
Tottori Toy Museum"; the name Warabe Museum was officially
adopted in August 1994, a few months before the construction was
completed.
The museum is made up of two wings connected by a glass-covered
atrium, and a third wing housing an elliptical hall. One of the
atrium-connected wings restores the outside appearance of the
prefectural library built in 1930, and the other is an exhibit
wing with an odd-shaped quadrilateral design. For visual effect,
it is designed to expand out from the entranceway at a 5 degree
angle.
Director Yamaguchi recalls with a wry smile the difficulty involved
in carrying out this design, since "the building has almost
no square or parallel lines." Walking around in the building
confirms this, as you can easily lose your sense of equilibrium
and awareness of your present location. This "vertigo"
sensation is actually quite enjoyable, making you feel you are
in a place to play.
The restoration wing is so called because it retains the external
appearance of the old library it replaces. The restoration process
began with surveys at the site before the library was torn down,
by the designers and the craftsmen responsible for the exterior
work. The library was originally built with parapets and relieves
typical of Western-style architecture of the day, and these were
faithfully replicated by the highly skilled workers.
Commenting on the complicated design, requiring both new and
old techniques, Director Yamaguchi observed that "from a
builder's standpoint it was a difficult task." Finally the
landscaping was done and a mechanical clock was mounted on the
hall wing, completing the work. The opening ceremony was held
July 7, 1995 (7/7/7 on the Japanese calendar), the day of the
Tanabata festival.
