Takaharu and Yui Tezuka inserted a sleek exhibition tubewithin the rugged steel armature at the new MATSUNOYAMA SCIENCEMUSEUM.

This article focuses on the design and construction of architects Takaharu and Yui Tezuka's scheme for the Echigo-Matsunoyama Natural Science Museum in Japan, done in collaboration with architect and engineer Masahiro Ikeda. Commissioned for the 2003 Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial, a regional event that included public sculpture and new buildings by the Dutch firm MVRDV project occupies a beautiful site 145 miles north of Tokyo where mountains meet fields once cultivated for rice. A clear departure from the glass-and-steel structures typical of many Japanese architects today, the heavily armored museum looks more like an industrial relic than a brand-new cultural facility.