Connecting with Physical and Virtual Waters

“There are two types of water that connect people to the world,” explained Pritzker Prize-winning architect Toyo Ito (aided by translator-journalist Noriko Takiguchi) to a global Zoom crowd attending the Architectural League’s final installment of its Current Work lecture series. Ito was joined by fellow Japanese architect and Harvard GSD professor Toshiko Mori, who introduced her colleague and moderated the Q&A session after the lecture.

“There is physical water, like that which has made up our bodies and the natural world forever,” continued Ito. “Today, we have a second, virtual water—we seek out rivers of data, information and experience, and flow with them wherever they may lead us.” Ito’s work could be described as a mediation between these two waters—conceptual yet comfortable; urban, yet organic in form. However, in the wake of the development that is literally skyrocketing around Tokyo in the lead up to the now-delayed 2020 Olympics, Ito questioned whether this second aqueous predisposition is good for humanity. In building taller and more comprehensive stru…