INTRODUCTION

• Toyo Ito  is a Japanese architect known for

creating conceptual architecture, in which he seeks to
simultaneously express the physical and virtual worlds.

• He is a leading exponent of architecture that addresses the

contemporary notion of a "simulated" city, and has been
called "one of the world's most innovative and influential
architects.
 MAJOR PROJECTS

• 1986 - The tower of the winds

• 1991 - The eggs of the winds
• 2001 - Sendai Mediatheque
• 2002 - The Serpentine Gallery, in Hyde Park, London
• 2004 - TOD's Omotesando Building, Tokyo
• 2006 - Vivo ciy Singapore at HarbourFront
• 2008 - World Games Stadium in Kaohsiung, Taiwan
• 2009 - Za Koeji Theater , Tokyo
• 2009 - Torre Fira BCN Building, Barcelona, Spain
 AWARDS

• Architecture Institute of Japan Award for Silver Hut in 1986

• 33rd Mainichi Art Award for Yatsushiro Municipal Museum in 1992
• IAA 'interach ‘97' Grand Prix of the Union of Architects in Bulgaria
Gold Medal in 1997
• Education Minister’s Art Encouragement Prize in Japan in 1998,
• Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in architecture from the
American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2000
• Gold prize of the Japanese Good Design Award in 2001
• RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 2005 For Sendai Mediatheque
• Frederick Kiesler Award for Architecture and the Arts 2008
 SENDAI MEDIATHEQUE

Main structure: steel frame, reinforced

Location:sendai city,miyagi japan
Principle use:library,gallery,theatre
Design:april 1995 – aug 1997
Construction:dec1997-aug 2000
concrete
Site area:3948.72 sq.m
Built area:2933.12 sq.m
Total floor area:21,682.15 sq.m
Scale of building:7 stories and 2
basements
Maximum height:36.5m
 INTRODUCTION
• Sendai Mediatheque is multi-function complex accommodating a
mixed program of library, art gallery, audio-visual library, film
studio and café.
• It was a competition winning scheme chosen in 1995 from amongst
235 competing proposals.
 CONCEPT
• The general concept, evident already from the competition entry, was the
free public accessibility.
• The multimedia library should contain several features: library, internet
booths, areas for watching DVDs, galleries, cafes, etc.
• It is located in front of a grove and surrounded on three sides by streets.
• Ito’s vision for this project was not about creating a form that
encapsulated a moment in time, but rather acknowledged a form that
could serve as a node of trafficking information that transcended time.
• Ito's proposal opted for transparency. Since the plot is located in
front of a large grove, it affords broad vistas towards the boulevard,
while shape of the trees is used in the design of the structure
 FORMAL DESIGN

• The design is based on three basic elements:

1. Platform
2. Tubes
3. The skin
 PLATFORMS
•  There are 7 platforms in the building.
• These are the support where the functions are carried out.
• They are 80 cm. thick.
• Each floor was given its own height, in order to create a spatial
differentiation.
A.Closed exterior and
interior walls B. closed exterior wall and C. closed exterior wall D. No walls
a space in interior wall
 TUBES
• There are 13 bundles of steel tubular structures covered in glass,
resembling a twisted organic structure like a weed.
• They cross and support the platforms, extending beyond the ceiling.
 Tube 5 in the southeastern part of the building is the largest "tube" and houses a
staircase. In order to encourage people to use the stairs, ad-hoc events are held here
as part of what is known as "project TUBE 5".
 STEEL TUBULAR STRUCTURE
• load-bearing tubes, ranging from 2 to 9 meters in diameter, where to
Nine
serve as “vertical transports and energy core connections,housing
elevators, stairways, ducts and cables… air supply and exhaust flues”11 as
well as distributing
natural light to the lower levels.

• Despite its fragile and transparent appearance, these structures

provide flexibility, strength and horizontal and vertical stability to the
building in an area of high seismic activity and constant typhoons.
CIRCULATION
ELEMENT
LIGHTING
DUCT WORK

NETWORK
CABLE
 THE SKIN
• It is a transparent membrane that allows fluid visual
communication between interior and exterior, and at times the
boundary between the two seems to vanish.
• Ito proposed different facades according to the character of the
surrounding environment they face. For example, the main façade,
located on the south side facing the boulevard, is a double layer of
glass (very useful in the winter months of strong winds ...
 THE SKIN
• The outer extends slightly and increases
the effect of lightness of the building.
• The east façade.
Double glass on the south side (double skin)
reduces the cost of opening and closing
mechanism and the upper air.Mechanism
releases the summer, cooling the surface
causing the rising air inside the
glass. Conversely, closed in winter, air-
insulated, creating layers.
 THE SKIN
• The west side facade, which faces another plot, is opaque, coated
with a metal frame that reveals the emergency stairs. The north
and east facades, which face neighborhood streets, have different
finishes on each floor: glass, polycarbonate and aluminum.
 BUILDING PROGRAM
• The first floor, called Open Plaza, contains the reception, a cafe and
a store of books and magazines. It is totally extroverted toward the
street.
 Basement 1F
the basement 1f of sendai mediatheque is divided into three areas. they are
the management section on the north side, a pay parking lot in the middle,
and an area on the south for preparing workshops. in the management
section on the north side are stacks for the traveling library, a room for
cleaners, and a kitchen for the cafe on the 1st floor. the parking lot provides a
parking space for about 60 cars

surface area: 1,017.40 square meters

stacks
this is a stack room of sendai shimin
library.
the maximum capacity of books:
approximately 50,000 
surface area: 182.16 square meters
 THE FIRST FLOOR LEVEL
facing the busy jojenji-dori, the 1st floor plaza provides a wide open space for
visitors. the open square in the center has a large screen, and can be divided into
smaller space with partitions. it is suitable for various events. there is a nice cafe for
visitors as well as a unique shop specializing in art books and related goods.
floor: 1st floor 
ceiling height: about 6.8 meters
 Open square Shop Cafe Information counter

floor: 1st floor  floor: 1st floor  floor: 1st floor  floor: 1st floor
surface area: 458.42 sq. m surface area: 76.61 sq. m surface area: 89.28 sq. m
+ a pantry of 20.03 sq. m

Toilets Surveillance room Bicycle parking

floor: 1st floor  floor: 1st floor  floor: 1st floor

surface area: 27.84 sq. m. each surface area: 37.15 sq. m
 Delivery yard Book return post Conveyance elevator

floor: 1st floor  maximam weight: 3,000kg 

floor: 1st floor
surface area: 163.70 sq. m 3m width, 4m depth, & 3m ht.

Staff elevator Visitor elevators escalator

(2 elevators in no. 1 tube) 

the maximum weight: 1,150kg  transporting capacity: 6,000 ppll/ hr 
the maximum weight: 900kg  capacity: 17 people  transporting speed: 30m per second 
capacity: 13 people (1 elevator in no. 3 tube)  angle: 30 degrees 
the maximum weight: 1,150kg  step width: 604mm
capacity: 17 people
 SECOND FLOOR LEVEL
the 2nd floor information also consists of children's books of sendai shimin
library, meeting rooms and a childcare room.
separation between the public reading area and the private administration is
simply a translucent curtain, resembling a floating wall.
 multimedia library Curtain wall volunteer office

floor: 2nd floor  floor: 2nd floor 

max. quantity of materials on surface area: 33.62 sq. m.
open-shelves: aprox 11,000

meeting room children's books library workspace

floor: 2nd floor  floor: 2nd floor  floor: 2nd floor 

surface area: 48 sq.meters  surface area: 212.06 sq. surface area: 23.76 sq. m
capacity: about 18 people m
 group reading rooms storybook room childcare room

floor: 2nd floor  floor: 2nd floor  surface area: 26.06 sq. m 
surface area: 13.00 sq. m for room a  surface area: 28.91 sq. m capacity: approx 10 people
9.68 sq. m for room b 
seat: 
6 in room a 
5 in room b

baby-care room quiet room

floor: 2nd floor  floor: 2nd floor 

surface area: 11.95 sq. surface area: 19.84 sq. m
m
THIRD FLOOR LEVEL
FOURTH FLOOR LEVEL
 At the third level and
fourth level (the fourth
is actually a
mezzanine) are the
area of loans of books
and reading rooms.
 library staircase elevator

floor: 4th floor  For 3th & 4th floor for the 3rd and 4th floors
the max. No. of books : 20,000 books 
surface area: 569.34 square meters

library office reading seats counter

floor: 3rd floor  floor: 3rd floor  floor: 3rd floor

surface area: 477.17 sq. m seats: 44
• In the fifth and sixth floors exhibition galleries are located, used by
the citizens of Sendai.
• Here, mobile rectilinear panels can be accommodated to the needs
of the exhibition, in a clear reference to the sliding doors
of Japanese architecture .
FIFTH FLOOR LEVEL
ceiling 3.3-meter high
 galleries a, b, c anterooms a~i preparation room

floor: 5th floor  floor: 5th floor  floor: 5th floor 

surface area: 1,079.18 sq. mts surface area: 
room a: 10.79 sq. mts 
room b: 11.18 " 
room c: 10.89 " 
room d: 7.03 " 
room e: 7.47 " 
room f: 7.47 " 
foyer
room g: 7.47 "  unpacking room
room h: 7.47 " 
room i: 7.13 "

floor: 5th floor  floor: 5th floor

surface area: 507.66 sq. mts 
SIXTH FLOOR LEVEL
ceiling 4.2-meter high
galleries a, b anteroom j and k

floor: 6th floor  floor: 6th floor 

surface area: 1,318,79 sq. mts.  surface area: 9.95 square meters for room j, and 9.95 square
meters for room k

foyer

floor: 6th floor 

surface area: 507.66 square meters
• On the seventh floor there is a cinema and conference rooms,
which are wrapped in a matte glazed wall ("membrane") of
curvilinear forms, that is located in the middle of space.
SEVENTH FLOOR PLAN
 meeting room a and b Studio a & b
counter for inquiries

floor: 7th floor floor: 7th floor 

surface area: 48.46 sq. mts. for floor: 7th floor
meeting room a,
49.53 sq. mts. for meeting room b 
accommodation: approx 20 people
for each room

studio c studio inquiries output station

floor: 7th floor  floor: 7th floor  floor: 7th floor 

surface area: 23.47 sq. mts total surface area: approx 170 sq. surface area: 30.22 square meters
mts.
 cinema anteroom regulation room

floor: 7th floor  floor: 7th floor  floor: 7th floor

total surface area: approx170 sq mts  surface areas: 4.52 sq mts  surface area: 23.29 square meters
seating: a maximum of 180 

Foyer` lounge
CONCEPTUAL DRAWING
LIGHTING