Magical Literature Museum (Edogawa Ward Eiko Kadono Children's Literature Museum)

The Magic Literature Museum (Edogawa Ward Kadono Eiko Children's Literature Museum) is a public facility planned by Edogawa Ward to pass on to future generations the imaginative and dreamy worldview and achievements of Kadono Eiko, recipient of the "International Hans Christian Andersen Award," often called the "small Nobel Prize of children's literature." It was created as a place to widely disseminate the wonders of children's literature to the world, where children can freely choose books, pick them up, and become familiar with them, thereby nurturing their rich creativity and expanding dreams. In this project, our company was in charge of displays basic plan, schematic design, and working drawings under the supervision of Kengo Kuma & Associates, and also handled the subsequent displays production. *We have been entrusted with the management of the facility since its opening in 2023.

Request from Edogawa Ward: We want to create an even broader "Edogawa Ward culture" by adding a facility that reflects the worldview and aspirations of Eiko Kadono, who is active on the world stage, to the ward culture that Edogawa Ward has built up over the years.
The basic concept of the entire business:
① The plan will be based on the fundamental principles of "inheriting the great achievements of Eiko Kadono and the worldview of her stories as a cultural asset of the ward, and promoting the wonders of children's literature," "creating a space where children can freely become familiar with books," and "fostering children's imagination and creativity through events and experiences."
② We will carry out integrated design and construction of "architecture," "landscape architecture," and "displays" based on fundamental principles.

Starting with the vision that Edogawa Ward and Eiko Kadono had for the museum, we were in charge of displays planning, design, and construction under the direction of Kengo Kuma & Associates and art director Mario Kuboshima. As a way to embody Eiko Kadono's worldview, projection mapping featuring characters from her representative works was projected onto an entire wall at the entrance of the facility, and in "Koriko's Town," which was embodied in color and form under the direction of Mario Kuboshima, we incorporated a mechanism that allows visitors to find "their own favorite spot." In addition, visitors can experience an interactive program that expands their imagination at the "Black Cat Theater." We designed and constructed the graphics that convey the achievements and charm of Eiko Kadono, based on the "strawberry color" that forms the basis of the main construction, as well as the character sculptures in Nagisa Park.

Eiko Kadono and art director Mario Kuboshima were able to respond flexibly to a variety of opinions.