Toyo Ito is a leading Japanese architect internationally known for conceptual and innovative designs. He graduated from Department of Architecture, University of Tokyo in 1965 and worked for Kiyonori Kikutake Architect and Associates until 1969. In 1971, he founded his own studio Urban Robot (URBOT) in Tokyo, which was renamed Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects in 1979. Many of Ito's works across Japan and overseas have made a strong impact on architectural design. He frequently challenges common practice and seeks to explore new potentials with creative interplay between form, structure, space, nature and contexts, resulting in unique spatial solutions never before seen. Among his critically-acclaimed projects are Sendai Mediatheque (2001), Serpentine Pavilion Gallery in London's Hyde Park (2002), TOD'S Omotesando Building (2004), Tama Art University Library (2007). Recently, his awarded design for Japanese Pavilion in the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale represented the concept of "Home-for-All" communal space for disaster survivors in Japan. It questioned a lack of humanity in modern design and brought back to the fundamental, primal meaning of architecture. Toyo Ito has been praised to receive several awards, including the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2013, the 22nd Praemium Imperiale in Honor of Prince Takamatsu in 2010, the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2006, and the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement from the 8th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale in 2002. His work has been published and exhibited extensively worldwide. He has taught as a visiting professor at several universities including the University of Tokyo, Columbia University, the University of California, Los Angeles, Kyoto University, and Tama Art University, and hosted an overseas studio for Harvard University's Graduate School of Design in 2012.