a+u has previously published two feature issues on the architecture of Toyo Ito Under Construction (May 2004) and Beyond the Image (June 2005). This issue extends the series with a feature on projects by Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects that are currently under construction or about to break ground. Entitled Architecture and Place, it describes projects in six regions around the world: Taiwan (Taipei and Taichung), Spain (Barcelona and Madrid), the West Coast of the United States (Berkeley), Chile (Marbella), Singapore, and the Inland Sea of Japan (Imabari). In addition to details of the projects, we have included reports from the sites and photos of the buildings under construction. We have also included contributions from project architects in the office who have been active in these regions. Their candid descriptions of the rewards and challenges of working overseas offer a glimpse into the processes through which innovative architecture is realized.
The feature ends with a conversation moderated by Hironori Matsubara. It offers insights into the lithe but determined approach of an architectural office working in market economies where architecture is consumed as a good like any other. (a+u)

Preface: Architecture and Place
Toyo Ito

Essay: Building in Taiwan
Rintaro Yabe

Taichung Metropolitan Opera House

National Taiwan University, New College of Social Sciences

Songshan Tobacco Plant Culture Park

Essay: Building in Spain
Yutaka Kita

Extension for The Fair of Barcelona Gran Via Venue + Torres Porta Fira

Gavia Park

Essay: Building on the West Coast of USA
Ryu Mitarai

University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Essay: Building in Chile
Isadora Droppelmann Lira

White O

Essay: Building in Singapore
Yoshitaka Ihara

VivoCity

Belle Vue Residences

Market Street Tower

Essay: Building on an Island in the Seto Inland Sea
Michiko Okano

Toyo Ito Architecture Museum in Imabari

The New Deichman Main Library Competition in Oslo, Norway

Conversation:Architecture and Place Architecture Built by Dialogue
Toyo Ito, Hironori Matsubara and staff architects at Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects / Toyohiko Kobayashi, Atsushi Ito, Yoshitaka Ihara, Rintaro Yabe, Ryu Mitarai, Michiko Okano