Toyo Ito

Toyo Ito (b.1941) is one of the world's most ground-breaking architects, recognized internationally for his inventive and original work. The revolutionary approach to engineering seen in his Sendai Mediatheque (2001) marks an important turning point not only in his own work but also in contemporary architecture in general. Before Sendai, the architect was concerned with structural lightness and transparency, and preserving conceptual purity in what he saw as the ever-changing 'non-context' of Iapanese cities. Although his designs still show these early influences, after the Sendai Mediatheque he began to leave behind what he increasingly saw as the boring boxes favoured by modernism, and move toward a light, sensuous and organic architecture that engages with the cities around it and the people who inhabit it.
Toyo Ito contains essays written by the architect himself on the creative process behind his projects, as well as an introduction by the eminent architect Riken Yamamoto and exploratory essays by Dana Buntrock and Taro Igarashi. All Ito's major projects, from his early experimental White U House (1976) and Silver Hut (1984) in Tokyo, to the extraordinary projects such as TOD'S Omotesando in Tokyo (2004) and the Island City Central Park 'GRIN GRIN' in Fukuoka (2005) are included and illustrated in detail by drawings, photographs and computer renderings.