Toyo Ito’s Sendai Mediatheque Model

2 min readMay 15, 2017

Toyo Ito utilized columns made of thin metal beams and thin floors to make the communal levels of the Sendai Mediatheque model appear to float. The columns in the model (refer to Figure 1) are made of a collection of intersecting thin metal beams to support the floors of the buildings, making the building appear to float. The thin floors of the model (refer to Figure 1) are translucent; light is shone upwards from the ‘underground floors and flows through [the translucent floors of] the building’ (Toyo Ito 2003), drawing attention away from the columns, thus reinforcing the illusion that the building is floating.

I have applied a similar technique to the Sydney Tower using wire and tracing paper (refer to Figure 2). The wire has been woven three times at differing intervals, reminiscent of the columns used in the Sendai Mediatheque model, to mimic the intersecting metal beams that support the Sydney Tower (refer to Figure 2). The wire is then bent to form the turret of the Sydney Tower. A circular piece of tracing paper is placed inside the turret (refer to Figure 2), supported by the wire framing, to represent the most communal aspect of the tower: the Observation Deck. If light were to shine upwards from the middle of the shaft created by the wires, it would make the tracing paper within the turret appear to float.