Nature Within: In Conversation with Toyo Ito

Presented by Toyo Ito & Dr Raffaele Pernice

March 27, 2026

Learn more about Toyo Ito’s practice from the architect himself, with this special talk event held in conjunction with the exhibition Nature Within: The Architecture of Toyo Ito. Taking place at UNSW, this talk event will focus on the works featured in the exhibition, along with Ito’s design philosophy.

Having established his practice in 1971, Ito has since engaged primarily in the design of public architecture. Much of the public architecture built in Japan has been influenced by modernist ideology promoted in the West during the 20th century, with spaces divided according to their functions. It remains fixated on an architecture overly concerned with function and performance alone.

However, Ito has always aspired to create architecture that is open and embracing, evoking the feeling of being outdoors even when indoors. By freeing ourselves from the grid—a three-dimensional lattice structure often used in modernist architecture—a fluid space can emerge, creating a sensation of being immersed in nature. Just as spaces of ‘stream’ and ‘eddies’ exist in nature, Ito seeks to create within architecture diverse ‘places’ rather than rooms divided by function.

Joining online from Japan, Ito will discuss his architecture practice with Dr Raffaele Pernice, Senior Lecturer in Architecture and Urbanism at the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

Please note the talk will be conducted in both Japanese and English, with the assistance of an interpreter. A recording of the in-person talk event will be available to view online via the JPF Sydney Facebook page at a later date.

Toyo Ito
Dr Raffaele Pernice

Toyo Ito

Toyo Ito 伊東豊雄

Born in 1941, Toyo Ito graduated from the University of Tokyo, Department of Architecture. After working for Kiyonori Kikutake, he founded his own office, Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects.

Ito’s major projects include Sendai Mediatheque, ‘Minna no Mori’ Gifu Media Cosmos and Ibaraki City Culture and Child-rearing Support Complex ONIKURU. Other notable works not featured in this exhibition include the Tama Art University Library (Hachioji Campus), the National Taichung Theater and the Expo Hall for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan.

Ito is the recipient of prizes including the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Golden Lion at La Biennale di Venezia, the Pritzker Architecture Prize and more.

In 2011, he established the private architectural school Ito Juku, which focuses on the future of cities and architecture. Together with Ito Juku members and the local community, Ito has also been engaged in a variety of activities to revitalise the island of Omishima in Imabari, Ehime, where the Toyo Ito Museum of Architecture, Imabari is situated.

Photo: FUJITSUKA Mitsumasa

Dr Raffaele Pernice

Raffaele Pernice is a 2026 JSPS BRIDGE Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Architecture and Urbanism at UNSW Sydney. Recipient of a Monbukagakusho Scholarship, a JSPS Postdoc Research Fellowship, and a JF Japanese Studies Fellowship, he holds a PhD in Architecture from Waseda University in Tokyo and a MArch from IUAV University of Venice. A licensed architect in Italy, he is editor of the books Waterfront Regeneration in a Time of Climate Change. Recent Japanese and International Experiences (Routledge, 2025) and The Urbanism of Metabolism. Visions, Scenarios and Models for the Mutant City of Tomorrow (Routledge, 2022).