Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects
Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects, has been established for over 50 years, led by Japanese Architect Toyo Ito. The office oversees every aspect of each project, ensuring that the architectural design is successfully realized from the conceptual stage to completion. The office realized numerous buildings that are truly unique to their contexts by constructing a strong team with the local consultants and world-leading specialists, as well as building good relationships with the client and stakeholders through continuous dialogues in the design process. Toyo Ito has been seeking to go beyond the architecture of Modernism by rediscovering the relationship between architecture and nature and by bringing nature into architecture. Architecture needs to rely on geometry. However, the environment where architecture stands, nature, is not composed of strict geometry and is changing fluidly and dynamically. By adopting novel computer-generated geometries, we aim to create architecture that integrates with nature, creating more comfortable spaces that go beyond functionalism, bringing fluid natural movement into architecture.
Born in 1941, Toyo Ito grew up in Shimosuwa, Nagano, Japan and graduated from the Department of Architecture, University of Tokyo, in 1965. Ito is the recipient of the Architectural Institute of Japan Prize (the Design Awards and the Grand Prize), the Golden Lion at La Biennale di Venezia, the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Pritzker Architecture Prize and the UIA Gold Medal, among others.
Traditional Urushi, a material found in the daily lives of the Japanese, possesses remarkable strength, durability, and environmentally friendly qualities, making it a subject of ongoing research. Under the theme of "Circular Economy," Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects aims to expand the potential of this material, taking on the challenge to create unique and unprecedented space.