Toyo Ito

The award winner Japanese architect Toyo Ito designed the International Baroque Museum in Puebla, Mexico. He is well known for his majestic buildings in Europe and Asia that rise with nature inspired geometry and complex shapes that could belong in a fantasy. Nobody knew how to build this project until a team of Mexican constructors accepted the challenge after two years of nobody stepping up to it. But there was a catch. They only had 27 weeks to build something comparable to the Guggenheim in NYC. This is the story of that team who tested the Mexican genius to solve a complex puzzle told by the men and women who made it. On time. On a budget. Against all odds.

A film about modern Japanese architecture, its roots in the Japanese tradition and its impact on the Nordic building-tradition. Winding its way through visions of the future, traditions, nature, concrete, gardens and high-tech, KOCHUU tells us how contemporary Japanese architects strive to unite the ways of modern man with the old philosophies in astounding constructions. Interviews with, and works by, Japanese architects Tadad Ando, Kisho Kurokawa, Toyo Ito and Kazuo Shinohara and Scandinavian architects Sverre Fehn, Kristian Gullichsen and Juhani Pallasmaa.

Japan's establishment as an economic superpower led to a Golden Age of Japanese architecture. Six innovators stand out particularly, fusing Japanese traditions with modern materials and technology.