Toyo Ito
Early Life and Education
Toyo Ito was born on June 1, 1941, in Seoul, Korea, to Japanese parents. He was two years old when his family moved back to Japan, and he grew up in the town of Shimosuwa in Nagano Prefecture. His father was a businessman who was interested in ceramics, and his mother was a homemaker.
Ito’s interest in architecture was not immediate. As a young man, he was more interested in baseball than in his studies. His interest in architecture was sparked in high school, after seeing a picture of the Kresge Chapel at MIT, designed by Eero Saarinen.
In 1965, he graduated from the University of Tokyo’s Department of Architecture. The 1960s were a period of great social and cultural change in Japan, and the architectural world was dominated by the Metabolism movement, which advocated for a new, flexible, and technologically advanced form of urbanism. Ito was not a member of the Metabolist group, but he was influenced by their futuristic vision.
After graduating, he went to work for the firm of Kiyonori Kikutake, one of the leading figures of the Metabolist movement. He worked with Kikutake for four years, and he was involved in a number of large-scale, visionary projects.
In 1971, at the age of 30, he founded his own architectural practice in Tokyo, which he called Urban Robot, or Urbot. The name reflected his interest in the city and in the relationship between architecture and technology. In 1979, he changed the name of the firm to Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects.
His early work consisted of a series of small, private houses in and around Tokyo. These houses, such as the “Aluminum House” (1971) and his own house, the “White U” (1976), were minimalist and introspective spaces that were designed to create a sense of separation from the chaotic urban environment of Tokyo. They were a powerful expression of his early interest in creating an architecture that was both abstract and personal.
Architectural Philosophy and Career
Toyo Ito’s architectural philosophy is a constant search for a new and more fluid relationship between architecture, nature, and the human body. His work has evolved through a series of distinct phases, but it has been consistently characterized by its lightness, its transparency, and its conceptual rigor.
His early work in the 1970s and 1980s was focused on creating an architecture that was abstract, minimalist, and detached from the everyday world. He was interested in creating a sense of “poetic space” that would allow the individual to retreat from the chaos of the city. His “White U” house, with its blank, windowless facade and its introverted, U-shaped plan, was a prime example of this approach.
In the mid-1980s, Ito’s work began to change. He became more interested in the ephemeral and transient nature of the contemporary city, and he began to explore the idea of an “architecture of the wind.” His “Tower of Winds” (1986) in Yokohama was a landmark project from this period. The tower is a simple, perforated aluminum cylinder that is covered in lights. The lights are controlled by a computer that responds to the changing speed and direction of the wind, creating a constantly shifting pattern of light and color. The tower is not a solid, static object, but a light and ephemeral device for visualizing the invisible forces of the city.
In the 1990s and 2000s, with the advent of powerful new digital design tools, Ito’s work entered a new phase. He began to explore more complex and organic forms, and he became interested in creating an architecture that was more like a natural system, with a fluid and continuous relationship between structure, space, and skin.
His philosophy is rooted in a critique of the rigid, grid-based modernism of the 20th century. He is interested in creating a more “pliant” and “supple” architecture, one that is more responsive to the needs of the human body and the complexities of contemporary life. He has spoken of his desire to create an architecture that is as comfortable and as natural as a piece of clothing.
Ito’s career has been a global one, with major projects in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. He is known for his collaborative and research-based approach to design, and he has been a mentor to a new generation of Japanese architects, including Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA.
He is an architect who is constantly questioning and reinventing his own work. He is not interested in creating a signature style, but in a continuous process of exploration and discovery. His work is a testament to his belief that architecture must evolve to meet the changing needs of society and the new possibilities of technology.
Notable and Famous Works
Toyo Ito’s portfolio includes a wide range of innovative and influential buildings.
The Sendai Mediatheque (2001) in Sendai, Japan, is his most famous and acclaimed work. The mediatheque is a public library and art gallery, and it is a radical rethinking of the traditional library model. The building is a simple, transparent glass box, but its interior is a complex and fluid space that is supported by a series of 13 “tubes,” or bundled steel columns, that rise through the building like trees in a forest. The tubes contain the building’s vertical circulation and mechanical systems, and they create a sense of a continuous, flowing space that is free from the constraints of the traditional grid.
The TOD’S Omotesando Building (2004) in Tokyo is a flagship store for the Italian luxury brand. The building’s most distinctive feature is its concrete and glass facade, which is a structural skin that is based on the branching pattern of the zelkova trees that line the street. The building is a beautiful and innovative integration of structure and ornament.
The Tama Art University Library (2007) in Tokyo is another of his major library projects. The library is a simple, two-story building with a series of random, intersecting concrete arches that create a variety of different spaces for reading and study. The arches give the interior a cave-like or forest-like quality, and they create a sense of a continuous, flowing space.
The Kaohsiung National Stadium (2009) in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, which was built for the World Games, is a massive, open-air stadium with a dramatic, spiral-shaped roof. The roof is covered in solar panels, which provide all of the energy for the stadium’s operation. The stadium is a powerful and elegant example of sustainable design.
The “Minna no Ie” (Home-for-All) project (2011-present) is a series of small, community gathering spaces that Ito and a group of younger architects designed and built for the victims of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. The project is a testament to Ito’s commitment to the social responsibility of the architect, and it has become a model for community-based, post-disaster reconstruction.
Awards, Honors, and Legacy
Toyo Ito has received numerous awards and honors for his work. In 2013, he was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize. The jury citation praised him for “a body of work that combines conceptual innovation with superbly executed buildings” and for “an architecture that is both serene and dynamic.”
He has also received the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects (2006), the Praemium Imperiale in Architecture from the Japan Art Association (2010), and the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale of Architecture (2002).
Ito’s legacy is that of a quiet innovator who has had a profound and lasting impact on the direction of contemporary architecture. He has been a mentor and a role model for a new generation of Japanese architects, and his work has been a major influence on the development of a more fluid, organic, and technologically advanced form of architecture.
He has challenged the conventions of modernism and has created a new and poetic language of architecture that is in tune with the complexities and the possibilities of the 21st century. His work is a testament to his belief that architecture should be a source of joy, freedom, and a deeper connection to the world around us. He is one of the most important and influential architects of our time.