The Sendai Mediatheque
(1994-2001)
Location: Sendai, Japan
Architect: Toyo Ito
The Mediatheque is located on a tree-lined avenue
in Sendai, its transparent facade allowing for the
revelation of diverse activities that occur within the
building. Along this main facade the six 15.75-inch-
thin floor slabs seem to be floating within the space
connected only by the 13 vertical tube steel lattice
columns that rise up from ground floor to roof, similar
to the trunks of trees of a forest. The tubes are both
structure and vector for light and all of the utilities,
Structural diagram
networks and systems that allow for technological
communication and vertical mobility, including
elevators and stairs. Each vertical shaft varies in
diameter and is independent of the facade,
allowing for a free form plan which varies from floor
to floor. The main entrance leads to a double height
hall that consists of an information counter, an open
square that supports film screenings and other
events, a café and retail shop. Through the transpar-
ency of the facade and the continuation of the
curtain wall to the ground this space reads as a
continuation of the surrounding city.
Floor plans
scale: 1/128”= 1’-0”
UTArlington School of Architecture
scale: 1/128”= 1’-0”
Floor plans
Floor plans
scale: 1/128”= 1’-0”
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PRECEDENT STUDY: THE SENDAL MEDIATHEQUE
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