A Floating Object

3 min readMay 22, 2017

A study of Toyo Ito’s Sendai Mediatheque and the process of model making

Sendai Mediatheque (Toyo Ito 2001) utilises elements in such a way to create the illusion of a floating structure. The ‘plates’, flat planes separated by space stacked sporadically on top of one another, ‘tubes’, columns which are organic and “tree-like” in their nature (Toyo Ito interview 2013), and a ‘skin’, a thin transparent membrane that is almost invisible. These elements are accompanied by other aspects which affect the level in which the space is bound or unbound which according to Stenglin 2004 is a spectrum that affects the level of security a person feels in a space. A space which is too bound may be constricting to the user of the space. Ito’s Sendai Mediatheque has a high level of unboundness and is achieved by it’s use of transparency, chthonicity (how a building appears to be bound to the earth), the sporadic vertical interspaces and the use of reflective surfaces allowing light to bounce and flow. Additionally, each level allows light to pass through one another which lightens the visual weight.

Below is the development to attempt to emulate Ito’s style in terms of Sendai Mediatheque. Initially, I tried to develop organic, ‘seaweed-like’ shapes to integrate each plate together and ended up on something that leaned to resemble a water current that made the columns appear to be swaying. This indicated the frailty of the columns which lessened the connection it had with the ‘plates’ to further give the appearance of floating.

In my final model, to create more unboundness in the structure, I introduced a reflective material for the plates and used a white material for the columns. I also opened up the columns which could have been done more effectively had I used less quantity of a stronger material. This would have allowed even more light to pass through. Overall, each element works together to create the illusion of a floating structure.