Lighting a 'Cave'

When NMoQ opened in March 2019, architect Jean Nouvel described the design as "the first architectural structure that nature itself creates." But a lack of interior photos inside the museum made it unclear how deep such a statement was. 

Although not designed by Nouvel, the cave-like spaces of the gift shop takes the nature analogy deeper: inside the museum and its exterior shell of interlocking disks. Architect Koichi Takada was inspired by Dahl Al Misfir (Cave of Light) in Qatar, designing fluid wood surfaces that echo the natural subterranean spaces.

In a short film from ERCO, Koichi Takada describes his design and how the lighting helps to reinforce the design intent.