Toyo Ito | Mikimoto Ginza: Irregular Openings on Steel Plates

The entire exterior wall of the building is a composite panel of two steel plates with concrete poured in between, so the exterior wall is both structure and surface, requiring no columns. Irregularly sized, proportioned, and positioned rounded rectangular windows are cut into the wall—they appear to be scattered randomly, but their positions are actually determined by structural stress. The exterior wall is painted a soft, pale pinkish-white, so smooth that no seams are visible. The distribution of openings makes the volume appear light and uncertain, like a sheet of paper. At night, the light from within the windows reveals the irregular pattern. Shot frontally at eye level, simultaneously showing the random distribution of windows and the smooth volume. Avoid: regular arrangement of openings, obvious exterior wall division lines, adding columns or beams, changing the color to cool gray.

Translated from Chinese by AI.

整棟建築的外牆是兩層鋼板中間灌注混凝土的複合板,因此外牆同時是結構也是表面,不需要任何柱。牆上開出大小、比例與位置都不規則的圓角矩形窗——它們看起來像隨手撒上去的,實際上位置由結構的應力決定。外牆塗成柔和的淡粉白色,平滑得看不出接縫。開口的分布讓量體看起來輕盈而不確定,像一張紙。夜間窗內的光讓不規則的圖案浮現。正面平視拍攝,窗的隨機分布與量體的平滑同時可見。避免:開口規則排列、外牆分割線明顯、加設柱或樑、顏色改為冷灰。