Pritzker Architecture Prize Winner Challenged Modern Architecture

Toyo Ito, the Japanese architect behind the library that withstood an earthquake in 2011, won the Pritzker Architecture Prize – the highest award given in his field.

According to the citation, Architect Toyo Ito creates timeless works of architecture, projecting a sense of optimism, joy and lightless, combined with universality and uniqueness. The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an award given in honor of a living architect whose work of architecture projects vision, commitment and talent – contributing significantly and consistently to humanity and environment. The awarding body was founded in 1979 by Jay A. Pritzker, along with his wife Cindy. It has become one of the world’s premier architecture prizes. It is sponsored by the Hyatt Foundation and funded by the Pritzker family, awarding people irrespective of race, nationality, ideology or creed.

The 71-year old architect said that he was pleased with the honor because it symbolizes his stand’s acceptance as an iconoclast – challenging the concept of Modernism. He thinks that Modernism was already at its dead end. He also believes that the field of architecture needs to evolve to fit in the changing times and be more open to nature. Ito mentioned that the architects have made the field too complex and that it needs to be simplified so everyone can understand its concept. Toyo Ito is the sixth Japanese architect to win the Nobel Prize for architecture.

The architect who was not interested in architecture

Toyo Ito, born on June 1, 1941 in Keijo (now Seoul), Korea, was the son of a businessman with an interest in early ceramic ware from the Yi Dynasty of Korea as well as Japanese style paintings. Ito was a fan of golf and baseball. He moved back to Japan in 1943 with his mother and two elder sisters. His father returned to Japan two years later and his entire family lived in Shimosuwa-machi in Nagano Prefecture – his father’s hometown.

His family operated a miso-making factory. His father died when he was 12 years old, and only Ito and one elder sister are alive at present. He eventually opened his own architectural firm in 1971 and married a year after. His wife died in 2010 and they had only one daughter who is currently working for Vogue Nippon. Ito did not have that much interest in architecture during his youth. His passion back then was baseball. However, his love for architecture synced in when he was attending the University of Tokyo. He presented a proposal for Ueno Park’s reconstruction for his undergraduate diploma, which gave him the top prize.

Sendai Mediatheque: an iconoclastic piece

Ito is proud of his work, the Sendai Mediatheque – a library in Sendai, Japan that survived the horrific 2001 earthquake. Structural tubes supporting the floor plates providing circulation dominate the structure that the Pritzker jury said, “permitted new interior spatial qualities.” It was a project meant to survive an earthquake and it won the Golden Lion Award in the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2012. A person hiding under a table inside the building was able to take a video during the 2011 earthquake, which eventually went viral. His concept of architecture involves the inside and outside conditions, using materials that do not conform to the ideas of modern architecture.

Photo Credit: Sendai Mediatheque