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TOYO ITO UTKARSH SHEKHAR B ARCH 4th YEAR 071037

INTRODUCTION • Toyo Ito is a Japanese architect known for creating conceptual architecture, in which he seeks to simultaneously express the physical and virtual worlds. •

He is a leading exponent of architecture that addresses the contemporary notion of a "simulated" city, and has been called "one of the world's most innovative and influential architects.

• Ito was born to Japanese parents in 1941 in Seoul, South Korea, He is credited with influencing a generation of younger architects with his ideas about contemporary urban forms. • Ito graduated from Tokyo University's Department of architecture in 1965.

PHILOSOPHY • The work of Toyo Ito is often said to have affinities with the ideas of philosophers such as Munesuke Mita and Gilles Deleuze.

• He has expressed architecture as "clothing" for urban dwellers, particularly in the contemporary Japanese metropolis. •

His Philosophy lies in aggressively exploring the potentials of new forms and In doing so, finding new spatial conditions that manifest the philosophy of borderless beings.

CAREER • He worked for Kiyonori Kikutake Architect and Associates from 1965 to 1969 (alongside Itsuko Hasegawa ) , in 1971 he started his own studio in Tokyo, named Urbot ("Urban Robot"). •

In 1979, the studio name was changed to Toyo Ito & Associates.

• Toyo Ito holds a professorship at the Japan Women's University. •

He is also an honorary professor at the University of North London and has served as guest professor at Columbia University.

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He teaches at Tama Art University as a Visiting Professor.

MAJOR PROJECTS

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1986 - The tower of the winds 1991 - The eggs of the winds 2001 - Sendai Mediatheque 2002 - The Serpentine Gallery, in Hyde Park, London 2004 - TOD's Omotesando Building, Tokyo 2006 - Vivo ciy Singapore at HarbourFront 2008 - World Games Stadium in Kaohsiung, Taiwan 2009 - Za Koeji Theater , Tokyo 2009 - Torre Fira BCN Building, Barcelona, Spain

AWARDS • Architecture Institute of Japan Award for Silver Hut in 1986 • 33rd Mainichi Art Award for Yatsushiro Municipal Museum in 1992 • IAA 'interach ‘97' Grand Prix of the Union of Architects in Bulgaria Gold Medal in 1997 • Education Minister’s Art Encouragement Prize in Japan in 1998, • Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2000 • Gold prize of the Japanese Good Design Award in 2001 • RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 2005 For Sendai Mediatheque • Frederick Kiesler Award for Architecture and the Arts 2008

SENDAI MEDIATHEQUE

INTRODUCTION • Sendai Mediatheque is multi-function complex accommodating a mixed program of library, art gallery, audio-visual library, film studio and café. • It was a competition winning scheme chosen in 1995 from amongst 235 competing proposals. • Sendai Mediatheque is widely recognised as one of Ito's seminal works.

RIBA AWARD • The Sendai Mediatheque project received the Royal Gold Medal in 2006 by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA •

Its structural innovation, functional versatility, its symbolic meaning for the residents of Sendai.

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But perhaps what has made this building is a milestone is that has tried to capture on architecture the ethereal, fluent, multidirectional and virtual nature of the computer world that characterizes our time.

CONCEPT • The general concept, evident already from the competition entry, was the free public accessibility. • Located in an area of 50 x 50 m, the multimedia library should contain several features: library, internet booths, areas for watching DVDs, galleries, cafes, etc. • Sendai Mediatheque is located in front of a grove and surrounded on three sides by streets.

• Ito's proposal opted for transparency. Since the plot is located in front of a large grove, it affords broad vistas towards the boulevard, while shape of the trees is used in the design of the structure

STEEL TUBULAR STRUCTURES

The space and light flow frankly between the different levels of the building.

CONCEPTUAL DRAWING

SECTION

FORMAL DESIGN • The design is based on three basic elements: 1. Platform 2. Tubes 3. The skin

PLATFORMS • There are 7 platforms in the building. • These are the support where the functions are carried out. • They are 80 cm. thick. • It is actually a grid of metallic beams welded to two metallic plates, similar to those used in shipbuilding. This metal grill can also be seen on the roof, crowning the composition of the building.

TUBES • There are 13 bundles of steel tubular structures covered in glass, resembling a twisted organic structure like a weed. • They cross and support the platforms, extending beyond the ceiling.

TUBES • Freely dispersed in the building, they vary in shape, diameter, inclination and dimension, while providing light to the interior. The larger tube has a vertical circulation that connects the different levels of the library. • Despite its fragile and transparent appearance, these structures provide flexibility, strength and horizontal and vertical stability to the building in an area of high seismic activity and constant typhoons.

THE SKIN • It is a transparent membrane that allows fluid visual communication between interior and exterior, and at times the boundary between the two seems to vanish. • Ito proposed different facades according to the character of the surrounding environment they face. For example, the main façade, located on the south side facing the boulevard, is a double layer of glass (very useful in the winter months of strong winds ...

THE SKIN • The outer extends slightly and increases the effect of lightness of the building.

• The east façade.

THE SKIN • The west side facade, which faces another plot, is opaque, coated with a metal frame that reveals the emergency stairs. The north and east facades, which face neighborhood streets, have different finishes on each floor: glass, polycarbonate and aluminum.

BUILDING PROGRAM • The first floor, called Open Plaza, contains the reception, a cafe and a store of books and magazines. It is totally extroverted toward the street.

THE FIRST FLOOR LEVEL

• The second level is the children's library, internet and administration. It is a very open space, defined only by the furniture. • A very interesting aspect is that the separation between the public reading area and the private administration is simply a translucent curtain, resembling a floating wall.

SECOND FLOOR LEVEL

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At the third level and fourth level (the fourth is actually a mezzanine) are the area of loans of books and reading rooms.

THIRD FLOOR LEVEL

FOURTH FLOOR LEVEL

• In the fifth and sixth floors exhibition galleries are located, used by the citizens of Sendai. • Here, mobile rectilinear panels can be accommodated to the needs of the exhibition, in a clear reference to the sliding doors of Japanese architecture .

FIFTH FLOOR LEVEL

SIXTH FLOOR LEVEL

• On the seventh floor there is a cinema and conference rooms, which are wrapped in a matte glazed wall (Ito calls it a "membrane") of curvilinear forms, that is located in the middle of space.

• Here are also an area for listening tapes and DVDs and areas of assembly. The furniture is also curvilinear and organic.

SEVENTH FLOOR PLAN

LIGHTING

TOYO ITO CONTRAST WITH TADAO ANDO •

Tadao Ando, work is based in the Japanese tradition, particularly in the use of light, and maintains a rational, geometric, massive vocabulary and style. • Toyo Ito is not tied to any style, experimenting with metaphorical themes, transparent forms and electronic gadgets. Therefore, his works are closely related to another aspect of the culture in Japan,

Grin Grin Central Park in Fukuoka prefecture, Japan

Awaji Yumebutai,Kansai,japan

OTHER PROJECTS • ZA KOEJI THEATER, TOKYO

SIMILARITY OF THOUGHTS

ZA KOEJI THEATER, TOKYO

BERLIN PHILHARMONIC

CONSTRUCTION CONCEPT

THE EGG OF THE WINDS (1991)

DRAWINGS

THE TOWER OF THE WINDS

LIGHTING DURING NIGHT

THANK YOU