Toyo
Ito laureado con el Pritzker de 2.013
Joaquín Galán
El 17 de Marzo del presente año se anuncio a Toyo
Ito como laureado con el Pritzker en 2.013. Ito es el treinta y siete avo
galardonado con el Premio Pritzker y que a su vez resulta ser el sexto Japonés premiado. La
ceremonia tendrá lugar el 29 de Mayo en la Biblioteca Presidencial y Museo John
F. Kennedy de Boston, Massachusetts, un lugar que resulta significativo por ser
el diseño de otro galardonado con el Premio Pritzker, Ieoh Ming Pei quien
recibió el galardón en 1983.
Toyo Ito nació el 1 de Junio de 1941 en Keijo
(Seúl), Corea, de padres Japoneses, y volviendo en 1943 a Japón con su madre y
sus dos hermanas mayores. Dos años más tarde volvió su padre igualmente a
Japón, viviendo todos en la ciudad natal del padre Shimosuwa-machi en la
Prefectura de Nagano.
De joven, Ito afirma que no tenía mucho interés
por la arquitectura, se muda a Tokio durante su tercer año de Instituto
estudiando en la escuela de Hibiya, por entonces jamás soñó con convertirse en
arquitecto siendo su pasión el baseball. No obstante fue mientras estudiaba en
la Universidad de Tokio que la arquitectura centro su atención. Para su diploma
universitario en diseño, presento una propuesta para al reconstrucción del
Parque Ueno, el cual ganó el primer premio de la Universidad de Tokio.
Cuando Toyo
Ito se graduó en la Universidad de Tokio por el Departamento de Arquitectura en
1965 comenzó a trabajar en la compañía de Kiyonori Kikutake & Associates y
por 1971 había establecido su propio estudio en Tokio, al que llamo iUrban
Robot (Urbot) cambiándolo por Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects en 1979.
El primer proyecto
que despertó el interés sobre el trabajo de Toyo Ito fue la “White U” de 1976,
una casa diseñada para su hermana y sus hijos poco después de la muerte de su
esposo, y que fue demolida en 1997. Esta construcción se nos mostraba sin
ventanas, un bunker de cemento que se curvaba alrededor de un patio interno. Se
ha interpretado como una alegoría al dolor y al hogar. Lo curvo con su efecto
sin fin, un ejercicio de resistencia.
Muchos de sus trabajos han sido elogiados, pero quizás
el que lo elevo a un estado superior como arquitecto consagrado fue la
mediateca de Sendai. EN palabras de Toyo Ito, uno de los momentos más
importantes en su carrera. En contraposición con la solidez de “White U” la
mediateca es acristalada, transparente, cívica y pública teniendo una
apariencia muy ligera. El que ya fuera un edifico de gran influencia fue a
catapultar incluso más aun su fama cuando este aguanto la envestida del terremoto
de Japón de 9.0 de Marzo de 2.011.
Y esto es interesante, la capacidad de Ito de
crear proyectos tan diferentes, su eclecticismo. El dijo "He estado
diseñando arquitectura con la idea en mente de que era posible crear espacios
mas cómodos si podíamos liberarnos de toda restricción por un momento. Sin
embargo cuando el edificio se termina, me doy cuenta dolorosamente de mi propia
ineficacia, y eso se convierte en energía para retar mi próximo proyecto".
No es su estilo lo que el jurado ha admirado, no
su consistencia pero más bien la capacidad de reinventarse a sí mismo una y
otra vez. Casualmente el primer galardonado con el Pritzker fue Phillip Johnson
alguien que de alguna manera sufrió un proceso similar, la paradoja es que la arquitectura
es un campo donde la consistencia y un estilo particular o las formas de abordar
un problema en particular es algo que es apreciado y que siempre ha sido algo
primordial. ¿Estamos ante una encrucijada con respecto a la arquitectura o lo
que consideramos esta que sea o debe de ser?
Una cosa es segura a nadie debe de sorprenderle su
elección como laureado con el Pritzker
porque sus logros son más que suficientes para este distinción y si carrera es más
que para laurearla.
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Toyo Ito
Pritzker laureate for 2.013
Joaquín Galán
On the 17th of March of the present year Toyo Ito was announced as the Pritzker laureate for 2013. Ito is the thirty-seventh recipient of the Pritzker Prize and incidentally the sixth Japanese recipient. The ceremony is to take place on May 29 at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts, a site with the significance of being a designed by another Pritzker Laureate, Ieoh Ming Pei who received the prize in 1983.
Toyo Ito was born on June 1, 1941 in Keijo (Seoul),
Korea, from Japanese parents, returning in 1943 to Japan with his mother and
his two elder sisters. Two years later his father returned to Japan as well,
and they all lived in his father’s hometown of Shimosuwa-machi in Nagano
Prefecture.
In
his youth, Ito admits to not having a great interest in architecture, moving to
Tokyo while he was in third grade of junior high school where he attended
Hibiya High School, and at the time he never dreamed he would become an
architect being his passion baseball. However it was while attending the
University of Tokyo that architecture became his main interest. For his
undergraduate diploma design, he submitted a proposal for the reconstruction of
Ueno Park, which won the top prize of the University of Tokyo.
When
Toyo Ito graduated from Tokyo University’s Department of Architecture in 1965
he began working in the firm of Kiyonori Kikutake & Associates and by 1971
he already started his own studio in
Tokyo, which he named iUrban Robot (Urbot) changing the name to Toyo Ito &
Associates, Architects by 1979.
The first project to rise interest about his work was
the “White U” in 1976, a house design for his sister and her children shortly
after the death of her husband, which was demolished in 1997. This construction
appeared windowless, a concrete bunker that curved around an internal courtyard.
It has being interpreted as an allegory of grief and hearth. The curved with
its effect of endlessness, an experience of enduring.
Many of his works were praised but perhaps what
finally put him on a higher status as an renowned architect was the Sendai Mediatheque.
In Ito´s words, one of the high points of his career. In contraposition to the
solid “White U” the Mediatheque is glassy, transparent, civic, and public,
having a very light appearance. The already influential building was to enhance
even more his fame when it weathered the 9.0 magnitude earthquake in March,
2011.
And this is interesting Ito´s capacity to create
projects so different, his eclecticism. He said "I have been designing
architecture bearing in mind that it would be possible to realize more
comfortable spaces if we are freed from all the restrictions even for a little
bit. However, when one building is completed, I become painfully aware of my
own inadequacy, and it turns into energy to challenge the next project.
Probably this process must keep repeating itself in the future. Therefore, I
will never fix my architectural style and never be satisfied with my works.”
It is not his style the jury is commending, they are
acknowledging, not his consistency but rather his capacity to reinvent himself
time and time again. Incidentally the first Pritzker laureate was Phillip
Johnson someone who has undergone a similar process, the paradox is that
architecture is a field where consistency and particular styles or approaches
in problem solving has always being primordial. Are we today in a crossroads of
what Architecture is or what we consider architecture to be or that it should
do?
One things is certain no one has to be surprised for
his choice as Pritzker laureate for his has achieved more than enough merits
for this distinction in his career and he is a very much deserved laureate.
Trabajos de
Toyo Ito / Toyo Ito´s Works:
1970s
1971.05, Aluminum House, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan
1974.03, Cottage in Sengataki, saku-Gun, Nagano, Japan
1975.04, House in Sakurajosui, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo,
Japan
1976.05, White U, Nakano-ku, Tokyo, Japan
1976.12, House in Kamiwada, Okazaki, Aichi, Japan
1977.11,
Hotel D, Chiisagata-gun, Nagano, Japan
1978.03, PMT Building-Nagoya, Higashi-ku, Nagoya,
Japan
1979.01, PMT Building-Fukuoka, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka,
Japan
1979.01, House in Koganei, Koganei, Tokyo, Japan
1979.11, House in Chuorinkan, Yamato, Kanagawa, Japan
1981.11, House in Kasama, Kasama, Ibaraki, Japan
1982.05, House in Umegaoka, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan
1983.05, House in Hanakoganei, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan
1983.05, House in Denenchofu, Ota-ku, Tokyo, Japan
1984.07, Silver Hut, Nakano-ku, Tokyo, Japan
1986.05, House in Magomezawa, Funabashi, Chiba, Japan
1986.08, Restaurant Bar “Nomad”, Minato-ku, Tokyo,
Japan
1986.11, Tower of Winds in Yokohama, Nishi-ku,
Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
1987.03, M-Building in Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan
1989.05, Guest House for Sapporo, Eniwa, Hokkaido,
Japan
1989.05,
Restaurant PASTINA, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan
1989.06, Pavilion for "World Design Exposition in
Ngoya", Atsuta-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
1989.09, I Building in Asakusabashi, Taito-ku, Tokyo,
Japan
1990s
1991.03,
Yatsushiro Municipal Museum, Yatsushiro, Kumamoto, Japan
1991.03, Gallery 8 in Yatsushiro, Yatsushiro,
Kumamoto, Japan
1991.04, Lighting Design for Opera House in Frankfurt,
Frankfurt, Germany
1991.05,
Gallery U in Yugawara, Ashigarashimo-gun, Kanagawa, Japan
1992.06, Hotel P, Shari-gun, Hokkaido, Japan
1992.12, Amusement Complex H, Tama, Tokyo, Japan
1993.01, ITM Building in Matsuyama, Matsuyama, Ehime,
Japan
1993.03,
Shimosuwa Municipal Museum, Suwa-gun, Nagano, Japan
1993.04, Public Kindergarten in Eckenheim Frankfurt,
Germany, Frankfurt, Germany
1994.03, Old People's House in Yatsushiro, Yatsushiro,
Kumamoto, Japan
1994.04, Tsukuba South Parking Building, Tsukuba,
Ibaraki, Japan
1995.03, Yatsushiro Fire Station, Yatsushiro,
Kumamoto, Japan
1995.12, S house in Tateshina, Chino, Nagano, Japan
1996.01, Nagaoka Lyric Hall, Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan
1996.12, S House in Oguni, Aso-gun, Kumamoto, Japan
1997.03, Institute for Solid State Physics, University
of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan
1997.03, Higashinagaya Community Center & Elderly
Day Care Center, Konan-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
1997.06, Odate Dome, Odate, Akita, Japan
1998.06, Ota-ku Resort Complex in Nagano, Toumi,
Nagano, Japan
1998.01, Notsuharu Town Hall, Oita, Oita, Japan
1999.03, T House in Yutenji, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan
1999.07, T Hall in Taish, Izumo, Shimane, Japan
2000s
2000.03,
Agricultural Park Oita, Hayami-gun, Oita, Japan
2000.05, EXPO 2000 Hannover, "Health
Futures" Pavilion (Installation), Hannover, Germany
2000.08,
Sendai Mediatheque, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
2001.05, "Cholon" Dance stage design for
Kota Yamazaki's performance
2002.02, Brugge Pavilion, Brugge, Belgium
2002.03, W House in Inagi, Inagi, Tokyo, Japan
2002.07, Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2002, Kensington
Gardens, London, UK
2003.07, Shinonome Canal Court, Block 2, Koto-ku,
Tokyo, Japan
2003.12, Motomachi Chukagai Station, Minatomirai Line,
Naka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
2004.03,
Matsumoto Performing Arts Centre, Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan
2004.08,
Aluminium Cottage, Minamikoma-gun, Yamanashi, Japan
2004.11, TOD’S Omotesando Building, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo,
Japan
2005.04, Building for Island City Central Park “GRIN
GRIN”, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, Japan
2005.06, Aluminium Brick Housing in Groningen,
Groningen, Netherlands
2005.06, MAHLER 4 Block 5, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2005.08, "LE NOZZE DI FIGARO" STAGE SET,
Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan
2005.09, Dormitory for SUS Company Fukushima Branch,
Sukagawa, Fukushima, Japan
2005.11, MIKIMOTO Ginza 2, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
2006.05, Crematorium in Kakamigahara, Kakamigahara,
Gifu, Japan
2006.08, Extension for ”The Fair of Barcelona Gran Via
venue” Pavilion 8, The Central Axis, Barcelona, Spain
2006.01, VivoCity, Harbour Front Walk, Singapore
2006.01, Hospital Cognacq-Jay in Paris, Paris, France
2007.02, Tama Art University Library (Hachioji
campus), Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan
2007.05, Extension for ”The Fair of Barcelona Gran Via
venue”, Entrance Hall, Pavilion 1, Barcelona, Spain
2008.11, SUMIKA PAVILION／SUMIKA PROJECT by
TOKYO GAS, Utsunomiya, Tochigi, Japan
2008.11,
ZA-KOENJI PUBLIC THEATRE, Suginami-ku, Tokyo, Japan
2009.01, The Main Stadium for the World Games 2009 in
Kaohsiung, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
2009.03, Facade Renovation "Suites Avenue
Aparthotel", Barcelona, Spain
2009.06, White O, Marbella, Chile
2010s
2010.04,
TORRES PORTA FIRA, Barcelona, Spain
2010.09,
Belle Vue Residences, Oxley walk, Singapore
2011.05, Toyo Ito Museum of Architecture, Imabari,
Imabari, Ehime, Japan
2011.05, Ken Iwata Mother and Child Museum, Imabari
City, Imabari, Ehime, Japan
Descargala ubicación de edificios de Toyo Ito en Google Earth / Download the location of Toyo Ito Buildings in Google Earth
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| Za-koenji Theatre, Tokyo |
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| Architecture Museum, Imabari |
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| Tama Art University Library, Tokyo |
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| Tod's Omotesand, Tokyo |
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| Serpentine Gallery Kensington Gardens, London |
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| Sendai Mediatheque, |
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| Sendai Mediatheque, |
Tower of Winds, Yokohama & The White-U Nakano-ku
Odate Dome & The Matsumoto Performing Arts Centre
