21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa

Designed by the internationally acclaimed architect firm Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA, the museum features a unique circular layout with entrances on every side. White walls and glass create an open atmosphere so that being in the museum feels as pleasant as being in a park.

The collection focuses on domestic and international works from 1980 and onwards, from paintings and sculptures to photographs and multimedia. The museum is divided into a public zone, which is free, and an exhibition zone for which you need a ticket, but even in the free area you can encounter such powerful works as Leandro Erlich's "The Swimming Pool" and Jan Fabre's "The Man Who Measures the Clouds".

Kanazawa is a city with a long history of traditional crafts and products like gold leaf, silk goods and Japanese confectionaries, and next to the museum is the vast Kenrokuen park, one of the most magnificent Japanese-style landscape gardens in the whole country. The way the museum allows contemporary art to blend in so smoothly in a city alive with traditions is an attraction in itself.