Water Museum

Located in Jeju among The Three Art Museums, The Water Museum by Itami Jun embraces the island’s volcanic landscape and its natural rhythm. The strong cubic structure of exposed concrete is carved by an oval void that opens to the sky, allowing light and movement to play across the water’s surface. Within this quiet geometry, nature becomes both subject and material. The shifting reflections invite calm observation, evoking childhood memories of shimmering pebbles beneath a stream and the soft murmur of flowing water.

Along the water’s edge, a stone object - sculpted by Itami Jun himself - serves as a bench for contemplation, offering a place to experience mushin (無心), “a state of no-mind.” Even the ornaments - a dragon at the entrance and a turtle across the pond - are carefully placed gestures that balance energy and stillness.

The Water Museum forms part of Three Art Museums - WATER·WIND·STONE, one of Itami Jun’s major works in Jeju’s Biotopia. Each museum stands as an independent structure while remaining connected through a shared dialogue with the elements. WATER celebrates reflection and impermanence, WIND expresses freedom and motion, and STONE embodies permanence and memory. Together, they articulate Jun’s lifelong pursuit of unity between architecture, nature, and human emotion - a vision that transcends physical and cultural boundaries. As Jun once wrote,

“Architecture should breathe with nature, and only then does it become truly alive.”

Through these spaces, Jun redefines what it means for architecture to be poetic - not as decoration, but as a living conversation between matter, spirit, and time.