Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka (NAKKA)

This guide to the Nakanoshima Museum of Art in Osaka follows the building's own unlikely history: the sculpture of a cat in a spacesuit standing guard outside, built by artist Kenji Yanobe, and the four decades of stalled plans, buried ruins, and site changes that delayed Osaka's modern art museum from a 1983 proposal onward. You'll hear about the architect finally chosen in a 2017 competition and why he designed the museum as a stark black cube. Listen at the plaza in front, facing the river, where the cat still watches.