Assessment 2B: Toyo Ito
“Architecture is a piece of clothing to be wrapped around human beings”(Hobson cited from Toyo Ito, 2014, para. 1). What Ito is stating is architecture and humans in the past have been seen as two separate entities, however his notion identifies that one cannot exist without the other and his designs are made to show the relationship between the two. Architecture in the past was used to highlight the socioeconomic status and division of people, but Ito disrupts this notion by expressing that “Architecture is supposed to be something that links people to other people, not divide them, it should be used as a co-operational body for people (Arch Daily, 2014). In simpler terms, Ito is stating that architecture should be used to bring people together. Furthermore, Ito’s architecture has been used to blur the line between the natural and man-made, as stated by Ito in Levene and Marquez, 2009, p. 23 “My Architecture is used to reduce the gap between architecture, the surroundings, environment and nature”
These ideologies are evident in Ito’s design of the Sendai Mediatheque (Figure 1) and the Mikimoto Ginza (Figure 2). The Mikimoto Ginza building is one that exemplifies Ito’s blend of the natural and man made, where by the building is the man made and the design is the natural due to the natural light appearing to shine through trees. Ito describes this building as “Tarazan and the jungle” because of this concept. The development of the Sendai Mediatheque was used as a means of challenging and removing the archetypal ideas of an art museum or library and recreating a new idea of architecture called ‘Mediatheque’ using the state of art media. The Sendai Mediathque, as stated by Ito, was inspired by the idea of a transparent cultural media centre that allowed for complete visibility and transparency to the surrounding community(Ito and Maffei, 2002 p.138 ). When viewed from the exterior, the structure seems as if it were floating due to is transparent structure, use of white colour and thinly made, randomly placed support beams made to resemble both tree trunks and seaweed flowing in the water. Additionally, the structure when viewed from afar seems to organically sit amongst the trees surrounding it and embody the building as an extension of nature.
My design takes on inspiration from The Tower of Winds (Figure 3) and the Sendai Mediatheque and is focused on the MLC building in Martin Place. The reason for choosing this building is because it has a similar cylindrical shape as the Tower of Winds and allowed for a unique spin on the rectangular Sendai Mediatheque. Another reason for choosing the MLC building was because the space is used as a means of bringing people together and also sits amongst a patch of nature, which would be perfect for emulating Toyo Ito’s views of the city as a means of unifying people but also blurring the line between the man made and the natural. I wanted to implement the idea of a “floating building” by modifying the structure to mimic the Sendai Mediatheque, but also wanted to redesign the building so that it could sit seamlessly amongst the trees in the area. This is achieved through the tree trunk like support beams running through the design with each stick resembling branches. Holes were purposely placed on the ceiling of the structure to allow natural light through the building and highlight the aspect of Ito’s ideology of “Tarzan and the Jungle”. Furthermore by using thin materials (including the support beams and floor levels) along with the white colouring it allows for the illusion of a floating building to be highlighted.
Bibliography
Arch Daily, 2014, AD Interviews: Toyo Ito, video recording, YouTube, viewed 11 May 2018, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rcuhcanp-W0>
Hobson, B. 2014, Interview with Toyo Ito, Dezeen, viewed 10 May 2018, < https://www.dezeen.com/2014/07/31/movie-interview-toyo-ito-architecture-clothing-wrap-around-human-beings/>
Ito, T. Maffei, A. 2002, Toyo Ito: Works, Projects, Writings, vol. 137, California,[1][2][3]
Levene, R. Marquez Cecilia, F. (ed)2009, Liquid Space: Toyo Ito 2005/2009, Vol 147, El Corquis ,Madrid