All about Toyo Ito, the Japanese architect who fused buildings with free will

Out of all architects to emerge from Japan in the last century, architect Toyo Ito is one of the most influential of his generation. Ito's architecture is defined by the presence of free-flowing floorplans and a sense of openness, as epitomised in well-known buildings like Sendai Mediatheque or the Taichung Opera House in Taipei. But Ito’s portfolio cannot be appreciated simply by looking at photographs, no matter how eye-catching the buildings might seem from afar; His work needs to be directly experienced to be fully appreciated, as it is conceived to draw the visitor deeper and deeper into its carefully composed environment. ‘Human activity cannot, by its very nature, be reduced to mere function,' Ito says. 'Human daily life is an interplay of far more complex factors. It is by allowing function to remain ambiguous that we can feel joy in architecture.'

It's these intangible qualities that earned Ito a Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2013, and has made him one of the most recognisable names in the profession today. Here's everything you need to know about the pioneering Japanese architect.

Discover Toyo Ito, the award-winning Japanese architect

Who is Toyo Ito?

Toyo Ito was born in 1941 in Keijō, Korea (now, Seoul), which was then under Japanese rule. Upon their return to Japan, when Ito was two years old, his family settled in the countryside of Shimosuwa in the Nagano Prefecture. Growing up surrounded by meadows and mountains, running barefoot through the fields left a lasting memory for Ito as a child. ‘The fact that I often use curvaceous surfaces in my designs is influenced by my childhood,' Ito says. 'There aren’t straight lines in nature. Surrounded by curvaceous walls makes people – just like any other animals – feel comfortable.’

The origins of an architect

Even so, in his student days, Ito had never considered becoming an architect. After entering the University of Tokyo in 1961, one of Japan's most prominent academic institutions, he didn’t aspire to be an architect; he was busier playing baseball. It was only after coming across the works of architect Kiyonori Kikutake, who played a key role in the Japanese Metabolism movement that Ito grew interested in architecture.

Kikutake created numerous iconic buildings throughout the latter half of the 20th century, and Ito, then still a student, became determined to work under the Metabolist.

Toyo Ito's career development

Through his time with Kikutake, Ito learned that many architectural ideas 'lose their strength in time after a nights sleep,' he explains, 'Such ideas are pointless. Just as things learned through physical experience stick with you, I believe that designs conceived through physical engagement are the ones that truly hold their own.'

After working at Kikutake’s office from 1965 to 1969, Ito founded his own practice in Tokyo, Urban Robot, in 1971. He renamed his studio Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects in 1979, as it is still known to this day.

Under his own banner, Ito designed a number of instantly-recognisable buildings – notably, the Sendai Mediatheque in Sendai City, Japan (2001). The building made a significant impact on the architectural world, for its free-flowing interior that enabled visitors to wander through the space however they pleased. ‘For the first time, I truly realised I was grateful to be an architect. Architecture can serve society,’ Ito says of his work on the project.

Recognition and legacy

Ito’s work continued to underscore that non-hierarchical is what truly keeps people engaged with a building. In the decades since establishing his practice, Ito has been widely recognised for his output and thinking. He is considered one of the most important 20th and 21st-century architects and received the acclaimed Pritzker prize in 2013. Ito's innovation, the Pritzker jury noted in its citation at the time, 'is only possible through Ito’s process of carefully and objectively analysing each situation before proposing a solution. Ito has said that he strives for architecture that is fluid and not confined by what he considers to be the limitations of modern architecture.'

Ito's international accolades also include the RIBA Royal Gold Medal 2006, the 2010 Praemium Imperiale, a Golden Lion at the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale and an Honorary Royal Academician (HonRA) title awarded in 2023.

Key projects

White-U House

Where: Nakano-Honmachi
When: 1976 (demolished in 1997)

White-U House, one of Ito’s earliest works, was a house he designed in 1976 for his sister, who had lost her husband to cancer, and her two daughters. The house, defined by a concrete wall, features a U-shaped floorplan, somewhat secluded from the surrounding residential neighbourhood. Almost like a monastery, it encloses an inner garden. The house was designed to be a spiritual place for meditation for the family who lost an important member.

Silver Hut

Where: Nakano-Honmachi
When: 1984

Ito’s own house, ‘Silver Hut’, was built adjacent to his sister’s White-U House, and was the polar opposite - open and airy. As Ito stated, ‘When it rains, the sound of the rain beats down, and I am exposed to the harsh nature. It isn’t so comfortable, but there is a feeling that you are living with nature.'

This sense of openness is underscored by the fact that there are no individually separated rooms inside the house. Ito’s daughter, Maki Hashida, recalls that, without her own private room, she could not keep secrets; she ended up sneaking around to hide instead.

Sendai Mediatheque

Where: Sendai City
When: 2001

Ito's self-described ‘turning point work’ is Sendai Mediatheque, a multi-purpose cultural facility commissioned by Sendai City in the Miyagi prefecture. Having attracted attention for his earlier residential projects, Ito was known for his innovative ideas, but not necessarily accepted by the wider public yet. The Sendai Mediatheque was the project that led him to pursue architecture that engages with society. The building, which serves as a library and a community space for citizens, features a framework in which 13 column-like tubes pierce through seven plates. Although eye-catching, these tubes are actually practical, supporting the structure as well as being conduits, passing through the floors to allow for services, natural light and airflow. Although the client was initially reluctant to accept the unconventional design, the citizens of Sendai City were delighted because the floorplan, largely open and partition-free, allowed visitors to use it as they wished.

Serpentine Pavilion

Where: London
When: 2002

Located within London's Kensington Gardens, the temporary summer Serpentine Gallery Pavilion by Ito blurs the boundaries between architecture and nature, structural elements and art. Designed in collaboration with engineer Cecil Balmond, the pavilion is made of a mesh of seemingly randomly intersecting steel bars. The gaps between the bars can function as openings (windows or doors) or become opaque to form sections of walls or the ceiling.

TOD’S Omotesando (currently Kering Building)

Where: Tokyo, Japan
When: 2004

TOD’S Omotesando is situated on Tokyo's bustling Omotesando district, centred on a street lined with luxury brand shops. It is currently the Kering Japan headquarters. Since its completion, the building's irregular openings, which echo the zelkova tree branches lining the surrounding street, have become one of the symbols of the area. Unlike most commercial buildings which rely on a traditional curtain wall, TOD’s Omotesando incorporates an external concrete structure with glazed openings, whose pattern now defines its presence.

MIKIMOTO Ginza 2

Where: Tokyo, Japan
When: 2005

Located in Ginza, a district lined with flagship stores of luxury brands, the MIKIMOTO shop features a design that evokes falling petals, the bubbles emerging from the shells that nurture pearls, and the anticipation one feels when peering into a jewellery box. Constructed using a ‘steel-sheet concrete structure’ - in which concrete is poured between two metal plates - the building is supported by surprisingly thin walls, creating an open, column-free interior. MIKIMOTO Ginza 2 was the first building in the world to utilise this particular construction method.

Tama Art University Library

Where: Hachioji, Japan
When: 2007

This art university library features a series of arched openings reminiscent of the aqueducts of Rome. Its concrete walls, formed by arches of varying spans curve not only on the façade but also extend internally, creating vaulted walls that spread out at various angles throughout the library. As a result, the interior resembles branches extending from a large tree trunk. ‘My intention was to give the feeling of reading a book amongst the trees,’ says Ito. The forest feel is heightened by the ground floor, which slopes gently to follow the building's inclined site.

Minna no Mori Gifu Media Cosmos

Where: Gifu City, Japan
When: 2015

Located in Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture, Minna no Mori – meaning ‘forest for everyone’ – Gifu Media Cosmos is a public multi-purpose institution centred on a library. Although the design appears unconventional, it is a very pragmatic, functional design devised to work in harmony with its natural environment. The building utilises groundwater from a nearby river for heating and cooling. Energy consumption has been reduced by more than 50 per cent compared to conventional buildings of a similar scale.

National Taichung Theater

Where: Taichung, Taiwan
When: 2016

‘The National Taichung Theater is not just a building that houses a grand theatre for staging an opera. The engine of the architecture is the opera,’ Ito says of National Taichung Theater, arguably his most internationally-acclaimed work. Indeed, the building unfolds almost like a performance: Comprising a thin three-dimensional curved reinforced concrete shell, with no distinct boundaries between floor, wall, column and ceiling, the National Taichung Theater took approximately 11 years to complete and has been described as one of the most challenging buildings in the world to construct.

The building includes three theatres, restaurants and shops, whose interior curves spill outward to form an outdoor garden, creating seamless continuity between interior and exterior. Ito believed that a cave-like setting was the perfect environment for theatre – a fundamental form of human expression.