Hiroshima Naka Incineration Plant

The Naka Incineration Plant, completed in 2004 and designed by architect Taniguchi Yoshio (also known for the Museum of Modern Art in New York), sits on reclaimed waterfront land overlooking Hiroshima Bay. Its centrepiece is the Ecorium, a pier-like wooden walkway that passes through a vast processing hall filled with machinery and trees. The plant is quiet and nearly automated. From the end of the walkway, visitors see the bay and can observe crane-operated refuse pits below. Guided tours explain how steam generated by incineration powers the facility. The building was commissioned as part of a series marking 50 years since the 1945 atomic bombing.