Toyo Ito : Master Class Architect who Works With Innovation and Design Creativity

Toyo Ito : Master Class Architect who Works With Innovation and Design Creativity - by Christine Wonoseputro
Abstract

Toyo Ito is one of the world’s most innovative and influential architects. Ito is known for creating extreme concept buildings, in which he seeks to fuse the physical and virtual worlds. he is a leading exponent of architecture that addresses issues of the contemporary ’simulated’ city. born in japan in 1941, Ito graduated from Tokyo University, department of architecture in 1965. After a brief stint in Kiyonari Kikutake architect and associate, he started his own studio, ‘urban robot’ (urbot) in tokyo, 1971. its name was changed to Toyo Ito & Associates, architects in 1979.

Being called as master like a “kungfu master” in martial arts world, Master Toyo has been known of his metaphore concept in design. The way he transfer his idea into form, so its being communicate to public become a challenge to bring innovation in product and materials in architecture.The way of his creative thinking, has make him as one of the non strandart architect.

Keywords : Toyo Ito, innovation, non standard architect, and design creativity.

BIOGRAPHY

Toyo Ito born In Japan in 1941. In 1965 this 65 year old master graduated from tokyo university in department of architecture. After graduation he worked with Kiyonori Kikutake architect and associate who give big influence through his works.

He started his own studio the Urban Robot or Urbot in Tokyo, 1971 and the name changed into Toyo Ito Architects in 1979.

Buildings and Projects :

- Domestic Construction white U in 1976 and Silver Hut in 1984, Toyo created the basis for new concepts of life in centres of population.

- In, 1985, he developed mobile large city withe pao projects.

- And ‘ a dwelling for Tokyo Nomad Woman’

- In 1986, he created The Tower of Wind in Yokohama

- In 1991 he designed Yatsushiro Museum
- In 1994 he created Yatshusiro old people’s home

- In 2001, City of Sendai , Japan, named Sendai Mediatheque ,

- And his recent project in Singapore, “the vivo city”, which is going to be completed soon, in 2006

HIS WORK AND CREATIVE IDEAS

Toyo Ito is known as a simple and creative architects. through his conversation with architectureweek, master Ito makes every answer seems so simple. He doesn’t like pets much, he prefers to be a baseball player than an architects, he loves to wear simple things than formal shirts and japanese traditional dress, and he enjoy evening time very much to work.

Toyo makes life so easy, as how he brings it in design, to enjoy life and nature. People see his work as light and transparent. Knowing as the architect who work with metaphore theory, he is known as the architect who bring the architecture as the media of communication. As his in Sendai Mediatheque design reviews,

“…..The metaphor “the application of a name or descriptive term of phrase to an object or action to which it is imaginatively but not literally applicable” on which the Sendai mediateque project is based combines natural and artificial concepts in the form of an aquarium “an artificial environment designed for keeping live aquatic plants and animals for study or exhibition, esp. a tank of water with transparent sides” ( Ito, 2001 )

In his architecture Ito attempts to introduce the image of progress  “advance or development towards completion, betterment, etc; improvement”, using the most advanced innovation and technology by putting it on display. According to this , he brings Japanese concept of simplicity and minimalism: there are no messages on “screen walls”, the latest trend in Toyo Ito’s buildings for the media “the main means of mass communication (esp. newspapers and broadcasting) regarded collectively”, but it is through transparency that the development of the mediateque on the inside is seen. He also involve the entire environment into his design.

WORKING WITH INNOVATION

His work and his idea make challenge to make innovation building material, as the media to translate the methaphorical architecture languge into reality. His idea need to be supported by ultraperforming material, such as high performance concrete which make organic form and structure become possible to be built, new innovation in perforated aluminium, and also innovation in tempered glass and steels .

INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY IN HIS WORKS

1. High- performance Concrete ( DUCTAL )- case study of Vivo City , Singapore, 2006

The of Vivo City function may be the shopping centre, but this building demonstrates that with the right cemestry the results can be spectacularly far reaching. Toyo Ito explains about his works in Space Magazine ( Space, 2006#05 ) as the architecture of fluidity. It said thet in recent years Architectural Riviera has emerged on Singapore’s southern seaboard. Among the grace of the structure, Space magazine stated that VivoCity must be counted and among the most lyrical and intriguing.

Through this project Ito has fought assidously to close the gap between publics buildings and modern life and modern society.He arouse the people’s primitive’s energy of life through an ARCHITECTURE OF FLUIDITY.

In VivoCity, the first historical project of master Ito in Singapore, “The ocean and water ” is become the basis of his work . Ito explains his building’s external form as “the word of surfing” which played the important role to realise the sense of spatial fluidity and an image of the people’s vibrancy. The concept of transparancy will blend through the spatial relation in interior space and exterior space. It is not as much as the building that being surrounded by glass but the creation of links among the entire spatial design. To materialized the connection between the stories, Ito use an array of voids and vertical element and leads the viewers sight line and generates the circulation between the stories.

The entire shopping center design is comunnicated about the force od the unseen, which are solid elements look like being supported by the unseen or transparent elemets, just like the “water power.”

The Vivo City in progress, view taken from Sentosa Bridge

Detail of Facade using ductal.

About the materials:

In Many times, we just simply hope that we can combine all these qualities of work and suit perfectly for our projects, as we found in VivoCity.The creativity in concrete design is being possible until Boygues,Lafarge, and Rhodia found ductal.Ductal has the following components :

- Cements

- Silica Fuller

- nano minerals

- water

- Fibre ( metallic or organic)

- sands

- superplasticizer

Because of these components, Ductal High Performance Concrete’s micro-structure is completely closed, making it resistant to abrasion, corrosion or chemical attack. Such superior characteristics give the material ultra-high performance durability properties. Talking about sustainability and its high performance concrete, ductal also have a lot of benefits of life durability and resistance. This is attributable to :

- its exceptional durability
- its low consumption of natural resources associated to its use.

Chart Comparison of CO2 emission of Ductal and Steel grider/concrete mix.

From the source, there is explanation about the chart above :

“…The comparison table of CO2 emission of Ductal and steel grider/concrete mix. Like being used in VivoCity, Ductal® was used to built the vast yet extremely thin panels spanning several square meters which were designed to face the outside walls at the Rhodia research center in Aubervilliers (Seine-Saint-Denis).
The ductility and high flexural strength inherent in Ductal® were exploited to create panels covering up to 4.40 m² surface area for just 20 mm thick. For further information of Ductal, please click the lik below.”

Link :http://www.ductal.com/Introduction%20to%20Ductal.pdf

The process of Ductal to Architectural form : According to the process of architectural form in VivoCity, we can see that Ductal is a reactive powder concrete.

Its mix design includes oil well cement, precipitated silica, silica fume, superplasticizers and metallic or organic fibers. The latter serve as primary reinforcement and can preclude the use of conventional rebar, particularly in architectural panels and other thin profile, low load-bearing conditions where weight reduction is sought. Conventional wire strand and prestressing equip Ductal members for structural applications. Lafarge officials note that the material’s uniqueness is owed to a combination of compressive and flexural strength, plus a high resistance to abrasion and corrosive elements.

Construction Details

Formwork of the Cladding with chicken wire

The process of ductal in curve forms

Because its very light, so ductal is being use as architectural cladding.

In VivoCity, ductal is being cast by spraying the powder concrete into working platform, which contains of wiremeshes . Because its a dryconcrete, so it doesn’t need to be vibrated in order to remove the air bubble. It place directly through the main structure, which is formed by curvelinear steels as seen in the image.

The curvelinear steels as main support of ductal cladding.

Preliminary market development of Ductal will be centered on precast applications in the Lafarge, Canada. That region has North America’s largest concentration of plants using high-intensity, twin shaft mixers. While conventional equipment can be used with longer mix cycles, Lafarge officials find the high intensity units better suited for achieving the mix consistency necessary to yield product with super high compressive strength and other performance features.

In addition to twin shaft units’ mixing energy, the controlled setting of a precast operation is more conducive than a job site for the level of curing required to reach strength and durability levels. Product specifications state that Ductal cured at 70°F should achieve compressive strength exceeding a) 15,000 psi 24 hours after initial set; and b) 26,000 psi at 28 days. Strength development up to 33,000 psi can be reached in four days with curing at 195°F after final set.

The mix material can be in bulk, however Lafarge will ship Ductal preblended in 50-lb. bags and 1,500-lb. “bigbags.” The source also stated that the mix technology was developed by Lafarge Group and two French construction and engineering concerns, Bouygues S.A. and Rhodia S.A. They are members of a consortium that licenses Ductal production and marketing worldwide. Lafarge’s French unit was the first licensee, entering an agreement in 1999.

Link: Construction site accident at Vivo city

2. Perforated Aluminium Skin

Case study : The Tower Of Wind

Another of Ito’s widely celebrated projects is his Tower of Winds, built in 1986 near the central railway station in Yokohama, Japan. The tall cylinder shaped tower with perforated aluminium panels functions as a ventilation and water tank facility for an underground shopping center. In the daylight, the Tower looks like a giant grey sculpture suspended in the sky. But it is really at night that the tango between functionality and aesthetics takes place. The entire cylinder lights up from within, turning it into a luminous platonic volume, reflecting the ever changing “winds” of Tokyo.

The dancing lights are computer-programmed to generate different patterns based on information collected from the surroundings. The tower, covered in acrylic mirrors with over a thousand mini lamps and twelve neon rings, also has thirty floodlights at the base. The mini lamps change in color in reaction to the noise around the Tower, the neon lights ripple up and down and the aluminum panels on the tower appear and disappear with the wind. At once a wonderful metaphor for the cosmopolitan, volatile Tokyo, and a tribute to the amazing marriage of technology and creativity, the Tower is truly breathtaking to watch

About The material :

Based on source that I found in :

http://www.architectureweek.com/2001/1107/design_1-2.html,

Toyo Ito use a large amount of Perforated Aluminium as Architectural Cladding.

 

Tower of Winds was made as a ventilation and water tank facility for a shopping center buried right underneath it. A concrete box is hidden beneath the cylindrical perforated aluminium panels cladding.

The tower with such physical presence loses its presence after sunset and metamorphoses into a phenomenon of light. Toyo Ito said that he refers to this metamorphosis from an opaque substance into a transparent object of light as ‘fictional.’

The Tower of Winds Construction Concept

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction Details

3. Precast Light Concrete Claddings , Aluminium Flooring, and Glass Claddings

Case Study: Serpentine Gallery ( Toyo Ito collaboration with ARUP )

About The materials :

Based on the source, Master Ito is brings pre-cast light concrete ( it didn’t mention the brands of the products ), glass cladding, and aluminium flooring as the main materials in completing this project. Toyo Ito is co-working with DANDA, Germany as the contractor this project.

The process:

Preparing the site and construction surface with timber decking.

The detail of timber decking .

Set up the main contruction using the steel beam and columns.
The detail of construction in sectional.
Preparing to set up the glass wall .
While the main construction is being set, starting to put the entire cladding.

Preparing the pre-cast light concrete cladding to be construct with the main support ( the steel frame ).

The beautiful reflection of water above the glass cladding through the pre-cast concrete frame.

Cutting aluminium sheet flooring to cover the floor.
After the entire claddings are being setted, workers put the silicon rubber liquid to fix the detail of precast concrete and glass cladding’s join.

Link:

http://www.danda.be/gallery/12/

http://www.0lll.com/lud/pages/architecture/archgallery/ito_serpentine/july03.htm

Summary :

Being non-standard architect, Toyo Ito has tried to make everything that is seems impossible become possible of being realized. His works and ideas, of course have to be supported with the new invention in material and construction technology.

For Toyo Ito, being non-standard architecture idea is base on the thinking about modern man exists in two planes – one, the body in which he lives and the other, the virtual body in which his senses, stimulated by modern technology, exist. Contemporary architecture, according to Ito, must expand its notions of space and movement to incorporate this second realm of existence. What this translates into is use of state of the art technologies, fluid spaces, buildings that change color by day and by night – in other words, a feast of sensory and physical stimuli, all with down-to-earth practical uses that one almost forgets to appreciate. He is a constant source of revolutionary ideas who has made architecture as much about “soft” spaces as “hard” spaces. Non standard architecture should not be seen as only ” the skin” of the building but how the architect thinks about the philosophy of space and life itself.

_______________________

Bibliography :

1.Blaine Bowell, Transmaterial Handbook, 2004

2. May Chambert, Top Japanese Architects, Atrium Group, Ganduxer Barcelona, 2005, pp. 6-30

3. Websites :

http://www.danda.be/gallery/architect/toyo-ito/

 

http://www.vivocity.com.sg

http://www.thetake.com/take05/take04/html/42ndst.html

http://www.architectureweek.com/2001/1107/design_1-2.html,

 

 

---

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• Zaha Hadid: Reading Her Biography Through Her Metaphors In Design
• Creativity, Innovation, Design
• NussbaumOnDesign Here Comes IN2–Issue #2 of Inside Innovation. - BusinessWeek
• NussbaumOnDesign Insight on Creativity–With Humor: Sir Ted Johnson. - Busi…