Studio Banana TV interviews Japanese architect Toyo Ito on the occasion of his lecture at the European University of Madrid. Toyo Ito is one of the world’s most innovative and influential architects. Ito is known for creating extreme concept buildings, in which he seeks to fuse the physical and virtual worlds. Interview realised with the sponsorship of the European University of Madrid.
Toyo Ito (伊東豊雄) is a Japanese architect born in 1941. He graduated from Tokyo University’s Department of Architecture in 1965. His office Toyo Ito & Associates is a world leading exponent of architecture that addresses the contemporary notion of a “simulated” ciy, and has been called “one of the world’s most innovative and influential architects.”
After a brief stint in the Metabolist studio of Kiyonori Kikutake, in 1971 he started his own studio in Tokyo, named Urbot (“Urban Robot”). In 1979, the studio name was changed to Toyo Ito & Associates. Throughout his early career Ito constructed numerous private house projects that expressed aspects of urban life in Japan. His early experiments include the Tower of Winds, the Egg of Winds and the Pao House for nomad women. Later projects include the Yatsushiro Municipal Museum and the Shimosuwa Municipal Museum. More recently he has built the Sendai Mediatheque (2001), the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London (2002), TOD’s Omotesando Building in Tokyo (2004), the World Games Stadium in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (2008) or the Torre Fira BCN Building in Barcelona (2009).
Ito has defined architecture as “clothing” for urban dwellers, particularly in the contemporary Japanese metropolis. This theme revolves around the equilibrium between the private life and the metropolitan “public” life of an individual. The current architecture of Toyo Ito expands on his work produced during the postmodern period, aggressively exploring the potentials of new forms. In doing so, he seeks to find new spatial conditions that manifest the philosophy of borderless beings.
Special thanks to Eriko Kinoshita from Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects and Maite Shigeko Suzuki.
Interview by Cornelia Tapparelli. Translation by Yayoi Kawamura.
toyo is so cute ; )
[...] Rande seiner Vorlesung im November 2009 an der Europäischen Universität Madrid konnte “Studio Banana TV” den japanischen Architekten interviewen. Das Interview-Video zeigt auch Fotos der von Ito [...]
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What a neat compilation of pictures. I really wish there was some interesting architecture similar to this in Houston. I would love to take some ideas and build a house. I think it’d be great to retire in something so clean and relaxing.
-Sarah
Art Gallery Scottsdale
I just love to see how the world evolves and is getting better and better. I love the projects, interviews and pictures Studio Banana TV presents. I could watch them all day…
Peter Walsh
Not only is this assortment of architecture visually impressive to the person perceiving it in real life situations, they also make wonderful subjects for photographers. For example, the work of Mansilla-Tuñón above immediately reminded me of one of the wallpaper photographs that Windows 7 offers… So what we have here is a compounding of art, so to speak. The original work evokes a whole other form of art.
Peter
Mr Ito is brilliant. He will be in the history books as one of the greatest architects of this century.