The Sendai Mediatheque was designed by Toyo Ito, whose entry won a 1995 open competition run by the City of Sendai. The infobox gives construction from December 17, 1997 to August 10, 2000 and opening on January 26, 2001, while the text says it was completed in 2001. It cost about 13 billion yen.
Thirteen non-uniform tubes house stairs, lifts and services, and they carry steel honeycomb plates infilled with lightweight concrete. The building has seven above-ground levels, is 120 feet (36.49 m) high and has 233,000 square feet (21,682 m²) of floor area. The four corner tubes were designed to resist a 400-year earthquake. The skin is glass, steel panel and aluminum mesh.
Ito cites Mies's Barcelona Pavilion and Le Corbusier's Dom-ino house and rejects universal space. A cafe and bookstore open onto the street. The building survived the March 2011 earthquake with little to no damage.
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