The Metabolist Movement in the 1960s established the foundation from which contemporary architecture in Japan has emerged up to the present. Even today, the visionary architectural and urban projects created by the leading Metabolist Kiyonori Kikutake continue to shine brightly, according to Toyo Ito. In this lecture, he will consider Metabolism’s significance today through his rereading of Kikutake’s works of that time.
Toyo Ito was born in Seoul; after graduating from the University of Tokyo, Department of Architecture, he worked at Kiyonori Kikutake Architects and Associates before establishing his own office, under the name Urban Robot, in 1971. With Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects since 1979, Ito has completed many notable projects, including the widely published Sendai Mediatheque (2000), Tower of Winds in Yokohama (1986), Tama Art University Library (2007), and Toyo Ito Museum of Architecture (2011). “Ripples,” a metal street furniture piece, won the Compasso D’Oro, the prestigious Italian furniture prize, in 2004. Toyo Ito’s many awards received for architecture include the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, at the 2002 Venice Architecture Biennial, and the Golden Lion for Best
