Library Buildings around the World

Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects, Tokyo – Japan
http://www.toyo-ito.com
Libraries:
Tama Art University Libraries, Hachioji Library, Tokyo – Japan 2004 -2007
5.639 m² Project title: Tama Art University Library (Hachioji campus), Location: Hachioji City, Tokyo, Japan, Client: Tama Art
University, Design and Supervision, Campus Planning : Tama Art University Campus Project Team, Design team: Toyo Ito, Takeo
Higashi, Hideyuki Nakayama, Yoshitaka Ihara, Associate Architect: Kajima Design
Literature:
Domus 906
Casabella 758
Detail 2008.01-02
Architectural Record 2008.1
This is a library for an art university located in the suburbs of Tokyo. Passing through the main entrance gate, the site lies behind a
front garden with small and large trees, and stretches up a gentle slope. The existing cafeteria was the sole place in the university
shared by both students and staff members across all disciplines, so the first impetus for our design was to question how an
institution as specialised as a library could provide an open commonality for all. Our first idea was for a wide open gallery on the
ground level that would serve as an active thoroughfare for people crossing the campus, even without intending to go to the library.
To let the flows and views of these people freely penetrate the building, we began to think of a structure of randomly placed arches
which would create the sensation as if the sloping floor and the front garden’s scenery were continuing within the building. The
characteristic arches are made out of steel plates covered with concrete. In plan these arches are arranged along curved lines which
cross at several points. With these intersections, we were able to keep the arches extremely slender at the bottom and still support the
heavy live loads of the floor above. The spans of the arches vary from 1.8 to 16 metres, but the width is kept uniformly at 200mm.
The intersections of the rows of arches help to articulate softly separated zones within this one space. Shelves and study desks of
various shapes, glass partitions that function as bulletin boards, etc., give these zones a sense of both individual character and visual
as well as spatial continuity. On the sloped ground level, a movie-browser like a bar counter and a large glass table for the latest
issues of magazines invite students to spend their time waiting for the bus in the library. Climbing the stairs to the second floor, one
finds large art books on low bookshelves crossing under the arches. Between these shelves are study desks of various sizes. A large
table with a state-of-art copy machine allows users to do professional editing work. The spatial diversity one experiences when
walking through the arches different in span and height changes seamlessly from a cloister-like space filled with natural light, to the
impression of a tunnel that cannot be penetrated visually. The new library is a place where everyone can discover their style of
“interacting” with books and film media as if they were walking through a forest or in a cave; a new place of arcade-like spaces
where soft mutual relations form by simply passing through; a focal centre where a new sense of creativity begins to spread
throughout the art university’s campus. (http://www.dezeen.com/2007/09/11/tama-art-university-library-by-toyo-ito/)
Sendai Médiatèque, Sendai-Aaba-ku, Miyagi – Japan 1995 – 2000
7 stories, 2 basements, 29.682 m² Location: Sendai-shi, Japan
Awards:
2006 Royal Gold Medal by the Royal Institute of British Architects (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. Each plan is free form, as the structural column lattices are independent of the facade and fluctuate
in diameter as they stretch from floor to floor. The simplest intentions of focusing on plates (floors), tubes (columns), and skin
(facade/exterior walls) allows for a poetic and visually intriguing design, as well as a complex system of activities and informational
systems. The four largest tubes are situated at the corners of the plates, which serve as the principle means of support and bracing.
Five of the nine smaller tubes are straight and contain elevators, while the other four are more crooked and carry the ducts and
wires. Upon approaching the Sendai Mediatheque, the public is led into a continuation of the surrounding city into the double height
hall of the main entrance through large panes of glass. This open square includes a cafe, retail shop, and community space that is
capable of supporting film screenings and other events. Another aspect unique to this building is the involvement of many designers,
as the interior of each level incorporated another person. Kazuyo Sejima designed the ground floor, placing the administrative
offices behind a translucent screen. The Shimin Library found on the second and third levels include a browsing lounge complete
with internet access and specially designed furniture by K.T. Architecture. The gallery space of the fourth and fifth levels contain a
flexible exhibition space with moveable walls, and also a more static space with fixed walls and a rest area with seating designed by
Karim Rashid. Ross Lovegrove took charge of the sixth level, adding a 180 seat cinema and green and white furniture fitting to the
audio-visual multimedia library. The tree-like nature of the metal columns of the Mediatheque are continuous with the natural
surroundings of the area, as the design is found on a street lined with trees. The building changes along with the seasons, it’s
openness reflective of the summer green and also the streets during winter.
(http://www.archdaily.com/118627/ad-classics-sendai-mediatheque-toyo-ito)
New College of Social Science, Taipei – Taiwan in construction
After twelve arduous years, and costing 1.61 billion N.T. dollars in total, the construction project for the College of Social
Sciences finally held its ground breaking ceremony on March 2nd, 2010, at 10 o'clock in the morning. President Si-Chen
Lee, Dean of the College of Social Sciences Dr. Yung-Mao Chao, former President Chen Sun, Chairman of Tung-Ho Steel
Mr. Jen-Shyong Ho, Chairman of Taiwan Cement Corporation Mr. Cheng-Yun Koo, Mrs. Cecilia Yen Koo and her family,
Chairman of International Cultural and Educational Foundation Mr. Jie-Zhou Liu, Japanese architect Tayo Ito, Chairman
of Fu Tsu Construction Mr. Chih -Sheng Lin, top echelon administrators from the university and dignitaries from society
attended the grand occasion.
In his speech President Lee said that the relocation of the College of Social Sciences back to the main campus symbolizes a
new era in the development of National Taiwan University. He was thankful to the alumni for their generous donations which
he believed would make the faculty and students at NTU work all the more harder to build a better future for our country.
NTU is moving toward globalization. The buildings of the new College of Social Sciences specifically invited the
internationally renowned architect Toyo Ito to be the designer for a good reason, i.e., that they are mutually complementary.
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