Metropol Parasol © Javier Orive

This article, recently seen on The New York Times, was kindly shared with us by the author Sarah Williams Goldhagen.

A REVOLUTION in cognitive neuroscience is changing the kinds of experiments that scientists conduct, the kinds of questions economists ask and, increasingly, the ways that architects, landscape architects and urban designers shape our built environment.

This revolution reveals that thought is less transparent to the thinker than it appears and that the mind is less rational than we believe and more associative than we know. Many of the associations we make emerge from the fact that we live inside bodies, in a concrete world, and we tend to think in metaphors grounded in that embodiment. read more »

© RIBA

With the intentions of designing a transparent cultural media center that is supported by a unique system to allow complete visibility and transparency to the surrounding community, the Sendai Mediatheque by Toyo Ito is revolutionary in it’s engineering and aesthetic.

Six steel-ribbed slabs slabs, each 15-3/4″ thick, appear to float from the street, supported by only thirteen vertical steel lattice columns that stretch from ground plane to the roof. This striking visual quality that is one of the most identifiable characteristics of the project is comprable to large trees in a forest, and function as light shafts as well as storage for all of the utilities, networks and systems.

More on the Sendai Mediatheque by Toyo Ito after the break. read more »

Tama Art University Library by Toyo Ito. Photograph by Iwan Baan.

The Japan Art Association just named Toyo Ito its 2010 Praemium Imperiale Laureate for Architecture.  The annual global arts prize is regarded as one of the highest honors for those in the arts.  Ito was joined by Sophia Loren for Theater/Film, Enrico Castellani for Painting, Rebecca Horn for Sculpture, and Maurizio Pollini for Music.  Practicing architecture for decades, Ito continually brings a sense of sophisticated elegance to his projects with “a deep concern for the relationships between architecture, nature and the environment,” explained the jury.  We have featured several projects by Ito previously on AD, and whether it be a residence, a public theater, or a library, Ito consistently pushes the boundary of architectural expression by testing the limits of structure, using a modern material palette and bringing his ideas of transparency to each project.

More about the award after the break. read more »

© Nils Becker, Toyo Ito AA

Architects: Toyo Ito (ITO AA) + Fermín Vázquez (b720 Arquitectos)
Location: Plaza Europa 45-47 (Hotel) 41-43 (Oficinas), 08902 L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
Total Area: 80.108 sqm (56.014sqm s/r + 24.093sqm b/r)
Hotel: 34.688sqm (23.395sqm s/r + 11.293sqm b/r)
Offices: 45.420sqm (32.619sqm s/r + 12.800sqm b/r)
Proyect date: 2004-2006
Hotel: April 2006 – Jan 2010
Offices: April 2006 – May 2009
Photos: Nils Becker, Toyo Ito AA

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© El Pais

Back in 2006, the Torrevieja Relaxation Park in Spain was built to be a landmark in the City and a referent in contemporary architecture, but its actual state is just the opposite.

Thanks to Abitare I got into this article that shows how the building is already in ruins just 4 years after its realization. The original project contained three buildings in the coasts of Torrevieja, but the Coast management department stopped the project, leaving it to the disuse consequences. Now Torrevieja has a landmark, but was this what they expected?

Architect: Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects
Location: Marbella, Chile
Local Architect: Christian de Groote
Project Area: 370 sqm
Project year: 2009
Photographs: Nicolas Saieh

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Once more, Iwan Baan shared with the Za Koenji Public Theatre by Toyo Ito in Tokyo, Japan. An impressive black volume in the middle of the city of Suginami in Tokyo and managed by Creative Theatre Network (CTN), a non-profit organization led by president Ren Saito.

You can see the complete photoset on Iwan’s website.

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Once again, Iwan Baan shared with us another impresive photoset. This time, we are presenting the Tama Art University Library in Tokyo, Japan, by Toyo Ito.

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Construction is finished for Japanese architect Toyo Ito’s Solar Powered Stadium in Taiwan. The stadium’s roof is covered by 8,844 solar panels. The stadium is located in Kaohsiung, Taiwan and it was built to coincide with the opening of the World Games, to be held this July.

The “World Games Stadium” holds 55,000 spectators and it cost $150 million to build. The stadium will hold the record for largest solar-powered stadium in the world with it’s 14,155m2 roof. It could potentially generate  1.14 gigawatt hours of electricity every year, enough to power up to 80% of the sorrounding neighbourhood.

Seen at deputydog. More images, after the break. read more »

The extension of the fira de barcelona in montjuïc is planned half inside and half outside Barcelona’s municipal term, at the back of the Montjuïc hill, following the Gran Via avenue straight to L’Hospitalet de Llobregat.

Japanese architect Toyo Ito won the competition for the masterplan of the project.

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Photos on the construction of a new house by Toyo Ito in “Ocho al Cubo“, a project with 8 houses by contemporary chilean architects in Marbella, plus international guests. All houses are required to be made out of concrete. This one features a big rounded inner patio. See more pictures after the break.

See also our previously featured house by Sebastian Irarrázaval at Ocho al Cubo.

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