About Toyo Ito
Toyo Ito (伊東 豊雄, Itō Toyō; born 1 June 1941) is a Japanese architect known for creating conceptual architecture, in which he seeks to simultaneously express the physical and virtual worlds. He is a leading exponent of architecture that addresses the contemporary notion of a "simulated" city, and has been called "one of the world's most innovative and influential architects." In 2013, Ito was awarded the Pritzker Prize, one of architecture's most prestigious prizes. He was a likely front-runner for the Pritzker Prize for the previous 10 years. A recent trend has seen less experienced and well-known winners, for example Chinese architect Wang Shu in 2012, and the award to Toyo Ito is seen as recognition of a lifetime's achievement in architecture. == Early life and education == Ito was born in Keijō, Japanese Korea (today's Seoul, South Korea) to Japanese parents on 1 June 1941. In 1943, he moved to Japan with his mother and two sisters living until middle school age in rural Shimosuwa, Nagano Prefecture. His father was the chairman of a textile subsidiary of Mitsui & Co. His father returned to Japan just before the end of the Second World War to live with his family. Ito has stated that his experience of living by Lake Suwa and the stillness of its waters had a great impact on him as an architect later in life. Ito attended Hibiya High School in central Tokyo, where he was a member of the baseball team.
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