This is a two-story wooden exhibition hall newly built on the campus of Nagaoka University of Art and Design. It exhibits and houses approximately 3,000 paintings by the late Maruyama Shozo (1912-2012), a physician and painter. All construction costs were funded by donations. In order to withstand a snow depth of 2.5 m, structural plywood was used to cover the perimeter of the cross-shaped second-floor storerooms, which were inserted in a nested manner to act as beams. The beams are made of Canadian Tsuga square columns, which have a high nail-holding capacity, to ensure earthquake resistance comparable to reinforced concrete construction.

Japan | Niigata

Shinkenchiku May 2014 issue 114P