It was designed by Ito Toyo (surname first) of Toyo Ito & Associates, who, on March 17, 2013, won the Pritzker Architecture Prize - the top award given in architecture. Period.
The Mediatheque library managed to survive the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami (plural) that devastated Sendai and many other coastal areas of north eastern Japan that day.
Ito-san says he is very proud of the fact that his building survived the earthquake - not just out of a sense of personal pride that his work is still around, but rather because he designed it to survive an earthquake.
According to the people who comprised the Pritzker jury, the building's design is dominated by structural tube that support the floor plates, providing circulation and pathways that offer new interior spatial qualities.
I have no idea what the means, except that it probably means it offered a more wide open environment, with fewer actual columns required in the central portion of the building.
Here are some details about the Sendai Mediatheque:
- Location: Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyakigi-ken;
- Structure: Steel frame, reinforced concrete;
- Scale: Seven stories; two basements;
- Site Area: 3,948.72 square meters;
- Building Area: 2,933.12 square meters;
- Total Floor Area: 21,682.15 square meters.
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| The Toyo Ito Museum of Architecture in Imabari-shi, Ehime-ken, Japan. |
Says Ito: "I’ve been thinking that Modernism has already reached to the limit or a dead end.
"I didn’t expect this surprising news, and I’m very happy about it."
Ito-san will receive his Pritzker award on May 29, 2013 at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.
Thanks to Vinny for the heads up.
Cheers,
Andrew Joseph
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