Toyo Ito facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Toyo Ito
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Ito, at a lecture in April 2009
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| Born | 1 June 1941 Keijō, Japanese Korea
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| Nationality | Japanese |
| Alma mater | University of Tokyo |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Awards | Pritzker Prize (2013) |
| Practice | Toyo Ito & Associates |
Toyo Ito (伊東 豊雄, Itō Toyō, born 1 June 1941) is a famous Japanese architect. He is known for designing buildings that mix real-world ideas with digital or imaginary ones. Many people call him one of the most creative and important architects in the world. He thinks about how cities feel like they are "simulated" or like a game.
In 2013, Toyo Ito won the Pritzker Prize. This is like the Nobel Prize for architects, a very important award. It recognized all his amazing work over many years.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Toyo Ito was born on June 1, 1941, in Keijō. This city is now called Seoul, South Korea. His parents were Japanese. When he was two, he moved to Japan with his mom and two sisters. They lived in a quiet, rural area near Lake Suwa until he was in middle school. Ito has said that living by the calm lake greatly influenced his ideas about architecture later on.
He went to Hibiya High School in Tokyo. He was a member of the baseball team there. After high school, he applied to the University of Tokyo. He didn't get in the first time, so he studied for another year. In 1961, he started at the University of Tokyo. He chose to study architecture in his second year. He had originally thought about studying engineering. He graduated from the University of Tokyo's architecture department in 1965.
Career Highlights
After graduating, Ito worked for another architect's firm from 1965 to 1969. In 1971, he started his own design studio in Tokyo. He first named it Urbot, which meant "Urban Robot." In 1979, he changed the studio's name to Toyo Ito & Associates.
Early Designs and Ideas
In his early career, Ito designed many private houses. These homes showed different parts of city life in Japan. Some of his most important early ideas came from these smaller projects. Examples include the White U (1976) and Silver Hut (1984).
Later, with his Pao for the Tokyo Nomad Girl projects in 1985 and 1989, Ito showed what life might be like for people who move around a lot in the city. This reflected the changing lifestyles in Japan during that time.
Interactive Public Art
The Tower of Winds (1986) and Egg of Winds (1991) are cool interactive landmarks. They are in public spaces and show how modern technology can be used creatively. These structures are actually vents for an underground system. However, Ito made them special by playing with how solid they look. During the day, they seem solid. But at night, they "disappear" using computer-controlled lights. These lights create a display that shows things like noise levels nearby.
Toyo Ito's office is also known for training many talented young architects. Some famous architects who worked for him include Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa.
Exhibitions of His Work
Ito's work has been shown in many places around the world. In 1991, he used 130 video projectors to create a simulated Tokyo city environment. This was for an exhibition called Visions of Japan in London. In 2000, his Vision and Reality exhibition also traveled to different cities. Ito often used video projections to show his architecture. He did this in his Blurring Architecture exhibition, which traveled to five cities between 1999 and 2001.
He also designed the Berlin-Tokyo/Tokyo-Berlin Exhibition in Berlin in 2006. This design featured a smooth, wavy landscape inside the museum. It was one of the biggest exhibitions the museum had ever hosted. A large show of Ito's work was also held in Tokyo in 2006. It was called Toyo Ito: The New "Real" in Architecture.
Notable Works
Here are some of the important buildings and projects Toyo Ito has designed:
- 1976 – White U House (a house for his sister)
- 1984 – Silver Hut (Ito's own house)
- 1986 – Tower of Winds, Yokohama
- 1991 – Yatsushiro Municipal Museum
- 2001 – Sendai Mediatheque: This is a multi-purpose building. It has a library, art gallery, film studio, and café. Ito won a competition to design it in 1995. It is one of his most famous works.
- 2002 – Temporary Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, London
- 2004 – Matsumoto Performing Art Center
- 2004 – Tod's Omotesandō Building, Tokyo
- 2006 – VivoCity Singapore
- 2007 – Library of Tama Art University, Tokyo
- 2008 – World Games Stadium in Kaohsiung, Taiwan
- 2009 – Suites Avenue Building, Barcelona, Spain
- 2009 – Torre Realia BCN and Hotel Porta Fira, Barcelona, Spain
- 2011 – Toyo Ito Museum of Architecture, Imabari, Japan
- 2014 – National Taichung Theater, Taiwan
- 2014 – CapitaGreen, Singapore
- 2016 – International Museum of the Baroque, Mexico
- 2019 – The Tokyo Toilet project - Three Mushrooms, Tokyo, Japan
Gallery of Works
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Nagaoka Lyric Hall (1994, Nagaoka)
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Serpentine Gallery, London, UK (2002)
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Matsumoto Performing Arts Centre (2004)
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TOD's Omotesando Building, Tokyo, Japan (2004)
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Mikimoto Ginza 2, Tokyo, Japan (2005)
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VivoCity, Singapore (2006)
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Library of Tama Art University, Tokyo, Japan (2007)
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World Games Stadium, Kaohsiung, Taiwan (2008)
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Torre Realia BCN and Hotel Porta Fira, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain (2009)
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Toyo Ito Museum of Architecture, Imabari, Ehime, Japan (2011)
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National Taichung Theater, Taichung, Taiwan (2014)
Awards and Recognition
Toyo Ito has received many important awards and honors for his work:
- 1986 – Architectural Institute of Japan Award for Silver Hut
- 1992 – 33rd Mainichi Art Award for Yatsushiro Municipal Museum
- 2001 – Gold prize of the Japanese Good Design Award
- 2006 – RIBA Royal Gold Medal
- 2009 – Asahi Prize
- 2010 – Praemium Imperiale
- 2012 – Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the Venice Biennale of Architecture
- 2013 – Pritzker Prize for Architecture
- 2017 – UIA Gold Medal
- 2018 – Person of Cultural Merit (a special honor in Japan)
- 2023 – Honorary Royal Academician (HonRA)
Teaching Career
Ito is a professor at the Japan Women's University. He is also an honorary professor at the University of North London. He has been a guest professor at Columbia University. Currently, he teaches as a professor at the Tama Art University Graduate program.
See also
In Spanish: Toyoo Itō para niños
