The Looking at Architecture exhibition is being held again this year to allow visitors to enjoy the beauty and charms of the Former Residence of Prince Asaka (now the main building of the Teien Art Museum), completed in 1933. In prior years, the exhibition has explored themes related to various aspects of the building. This year’s installment focuses on rare books and periodicals from the Art Deco period of the 1920s and 1930s.

Prince Asaka and Princess Nobuko became enamored with the beauty of Art Deco style while living in France during the peak of the movement. When they decided to construct their own residence in Shirokane after their return to Japan, they commissioned the French interior decorator Henri Rapin to design the interiors of the main rooms, and other designers such as René Lalique to participate in the project, incorporating Art Deco design elements imported directly from France. The residence has been converted into a museum with only minimal modifications to the interior, and retains much of the ambiance of when it was completed.

Considering this background, the museum has assembled a collection of books and magazines on French decorative arts, as well as documents related to the Art Deco Exposition of 1925. This exhibition is organized around rare books dating to the period of the Art Deco movement in the museum’s collection, which are displayed in both the main building and annex. The museum will introduce the rich decoration of the Art Deco world through encounters with rare publications from this period, such as photo collections of ornate show windows, magazine issues devoted to the exposition or interior designs, and picture books illustrated with vivid colors.

In the museum’s main building, visitors can also experience the residential space recreated with old furniture and furnishings and with the curtains opened to let in natural light. We invite you to take in the architecture and interior design while imagining the residence’s original atmosphere.