Arch2O.com

Arch2O.com - Architecture & Design Magazine
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 specialized as a library could provide an open commonality for all.
Courtesy of Toyo Ito & Associates Architects – Photographs : Rasmus Hjortshoj,Ishiguro Photographic Institute,Tomio Ohashi
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. Courtesy of Toyo Ito & Associates Architects – Photographs : Rasmus Hjortshoj,Ishiguro Photographic Institute,Tomio Ohashi
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 an...