Toyo Ito (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.

Born in 1954, he is an architectural historian who studies the history of Asian cities, architecture, and spaces, as well as modern Asian architecture and the preservation and revitalization of local communities. He is a professor at the Integrated Earth Environmental Studies Institute and at the Institute of Industrial Science of the University of Tokyo, and co-chair of the International Nakanaka Heritage Committee for Buildings to Pass On to the Next Generation. Since 2011, he has served as an instructor at the Children’s Architecture School.

Born in 1968. Architect.Co-chair of Design Nouveau, Tokyo Picnic Club. Researcher at the International Center for Urban Regeneration Research, University of Tokyo, and lecturer at the Institute of Production Technology, University of Tokyo, where he studies urban regeneration cases around the world. Since 2011, he has been a lecturer at the Children’s Architecture School.

Junko Taguchi is an associate professor in the Faculty of Urban Science at Meijo University (Nagoya, Japan), currently visiting the College of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology. She holds a PhD from the University of Tokyo (2015). Her research interests include education on architecture and historic preservation for both general and specialized audiences. She is the Japan member and proxy director of the UIA Architecture and Children Work Programme. She is also a Docomomo International/Japan member and contributed to publishing Docomomo Manifesto on Education (2022).

Lee Jeong-hwan graduated from Kyung Hee University’s Department of Business Administration and Intercultural Japanese Language School. He is a researcher of Eastern philosophy and religion, a Japanese translator, and a writer. He has translated many books into Korean, including The Architecture of Tomorrow, The Secret of the Macaroni Hole, Connecting Architecture, 三低主, White, Nagaoka Kenmei no Kangae, Tokyo University Students Become Fools, and Ready Luck.