Designed by architect Tadao Ando and completed in 2007, the low-slung museum building is designed to fit harmoniously with its surroundings, with 80% of its very limited floor space placed underground. Inspired by Issey Miyake's clothing design, the building uses a single, 54-meter sheet of folded steel plate as its roof.

The museum's temporary exhibitions are not limited to the visual arts, but have also covered themes related to fashion, product design, music, food and anthropology. The actual floor space of the galleries is quite compact, with an overall size you might expect from a free museum, not one that charges full price.