1/24/12 Sendai Mediatheque Japan by Toyoto Ito

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Sendai Mediatheque 2-1, Kasuga-machi, Aoba-ku Sendai-shi 980-0821 Japan

Toyo Ito, 2001

The Mediatheque is located on a tree-lined avenue in Sendai, itstransparent facade allowing for the revelation of diverse activities that occurwithin the building. Along this main facade the six 15.75-inch-thin floorslabs seem to be floating within the space connected only by the 13vertical tube steel lattice columns that rise up from ground floor to roof,similar to the trunks of trees of a forest.

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The tubes are both structure and vector for light and all of the utilities,networks and systems that allow for technological communication andvertical mobility, including elevators and stairs. Each vertical shaft varies indiameter and is independent of the facade, allowing for a free form planwhich varies from floor to floor.

The main entrance leads to a double height hall that consists of aninformation counter, an open square that supports film screenings and otherevents, a café and retail shop. Through the transparency of the facade andthe continuation of the curtain wall to the ground this space reads as acontinuation of the surrounding city.

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The interior of each level of the mediatheque is designed by a differentdesigner. On the ground floor Kazuyo Sejima places the administrativeoffices behind a translucent screen. The second and third levels house theShimin Library and include a browsing lounge with internet access withfurniture designed by K.T Architecture. The fourth and fifth levels containgallery space; one level an exhibition space with moveable walls and theother an exhibition space with mainly fixed walls with rest area seating byKarim Rashid. The sixth level houses the multimedia library dedicated toaudio-visual with green and white furniture designed by Ross Lovegrove anda 180 seat cinema.

The simplicity of elements, what the architect defines as plates (floors),tubes (columns) and skin (facade / exterior walls), allows for a complexityof activity and information systems. The diverse programming creates an

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intricate spatial rhythm which is defined by varying degrees of publicspaces; communal spaces of activity and individual spaces of repose andsolitude.

Kari Silloway 2004

How to visit

Getting there

By subway from Sendai station take the subway bound for Izumi-chuo toKotodai-koen station (3 minutes) take exit Koen 2. The mediatheque is afive-minute walk.

By bus approximately 10-minute ride from JR Sendai station on a busbound for Kotsukyoku-Daigakubyoin via Jozenji-dori. Get off at SendaiMediatheque-mae stop.

By foot the mediatheque is a 20-minute walk from Sendai station.

Opening hours

Mediatheque 9am -10pm (closed December 29 – January 3).

Shimin Library 10am – 8pm (closed Mondays except holiday Mondays,

days after national holidays, 4th Thursday every month and December 28 –January 4).

For more information telephone +81-22-713-3171, emailoffice@smt.city.sendai.jp or visit www.smt.city.sendai.jp.All links outside galinsky will open in a new window. Close it when you'vefinished, or use the Window menu on your browser, to return to galinsky.

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