Born in 1941, after graduating from the University of Tokyo in 1965, Toyo Ito worked in the office of Kiyonori Kikutake until 1969. In 1971, he founded his own office Urban Robot (URBOT), which was renamed Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects. His representative projects include Sendai Mediatheque (Japan), Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2002 (UK), Tama Art University Library (Hachioji Campus, Japan), ‘Minna no Mori’ Gifu Media Cosmos (Japan) and National Taichung Theater (Taiwan R.O.C.). He is the recipient of The Royal Gold Medal from The Royal Institute of British Architects, The 22nd Praemium Imperiale in Honor of Prince Takamatsu, The Pritzker Architecture Prize, The UIA Gold Medal, among others.