21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art of Kanazawa

The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art of Kanazawa, designed by the SANAA studio (Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa) in 2004, is one of the most innovative museum buildings in the world: a glass cylinder of circular plan with no dominant interior walls that invites you to wander without a fixed route. Winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Architecture Biennale, the building itself is already an aesthetic experience before you enter. The most famous work is "Swimming Pool" by Leandro Erlich, an emptied pool in which visitors on the ground floor see others walking over the water from below (included in the exhibitions ticket). The public area of the museum —gardens, café and part of the galleries— has free access. The paid exhibitions cost 360 ¥ for the permanent collection or up to 1.200 ¥ for the temporary ones. Hours: 10:00-18:00 (Fri and Sat until 20:00), closed on Mondays. A five-minute walk from Kenroku-en.