Chicago, IL, October 9, 2013 ---- Lafarge North America and the National Building Museum announce that this year’s eighth “Spotlight on Design” lecture will be held on Wednesday, October 16, with 2013 Pritzker Prize Laureate Toyo Ito, Hon. FAIA and RIBA.

Spotlight on Design is an ongoing lecture series that features architects and designers of distinction from around the world. Since its inception in 1997, the series has hosted many of the world’s premier design voices in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning and design, including Pritzker Prize Laureates Tadao Ando, Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, I. M. Pei and Glenn Murcutt. Lafarge has been the corporate sponsor of Spotlight on Design since 2001.

Toyo Ito has completed numerous award-winning private and public projects across the globe since opening his Tokyo-based firm Urban Robot in 1971, which he later renamed Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects. He holds honorary fellowships in the American Institute of Architects, the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Architecture Institute of Japan, the Tokyo Society of Architects and Building Engineers, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His many honors include the Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2000, the World Architecture Award for the Best Building in Asia (Sendai Mediatheque) in 2002, the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement from the 8th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale in 2002, the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2006, and the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2013. Ito graduated from the architecture program at the University of Tokyo in 1969 and was awarded an honorary degree from London’s Architectural Association School of Architecture in 2003. He has served as a guest professor at many distinguished schools of design, and his works have been the subject of museum exhibitions throughout the world.

The innovative application of building materials to create breathtakingly original designs, such as using our Ductal® ultra-high performance concrete to achieve flowing organic forms in Singapore’s VivoCity, is a hallmark of Toyo Ito,” said Maik Strecker, vice president of marketing for Lafarge U.S. “We look forward to welcoming this visionary architect to the National Building Museum and learning more about his many contributions to building more durable and beautiful urban environments.

During this translated program, Ito will discuss his design philosophy and work on Tokyo’s Tama Art University Library and TOD’S Omotesando Building, as well as the Sendai Mediatheque Library that survived Japan’s catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in 2011. The lecture is scheduled for October 16 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the National Building Museum, 401 F Street NW, Washington, DC. To attend the event, register at  http://go.nbm.org/site/Calendar/295729932?view=Detail&id=115401.

During the past several years, more than 30,000 people have attended lectures through the Spotlight on Design series, with audiences ranging from professionals, policymakers and students to the general public. The series also provides an opportunity for design professionals to achieve continuing education training through the American Institute of Architects Continuing Education System. Those not local to Washington, D.C. can access the lecture series and interviews with individual architects online by visiting the National Building Museum’s website at  www.nbm.org.

Lafarge North America Inc. (“Lafarge”) has more than 260 industrial and distribution sites and approximately 3,000 employees in 40 states in its U.S. cement, aggregate and concrete businesses. Lafarge U.S. is an operating unit of Lafarge North America Inc. Lafarge is active in local environment, education and sustainable construction partnerships including the Wildlife Habitat Council, the World Wildlife Fund, Habitat for Humanity, the American Institute of Architectural Students and the National Building Museum.

Lafarge S.A., together with its subsidiaries (the “Lafarge Group” or the “Group”), is the world leader in building materials and employs 65,000 people in 64 countries, and posted sales of €15.8 billion in 2012. As a top-ranking player in its Cement, Aggregates and Concrete businesses, the Group contributes to the construction of cities around the world through its innovative solutions, providing them with more housing and making them more compact, more durable, more beautiful and better connected. Lafarge North America Inc. and its subsidiaries, including Lafarge Canada Inc., are Lafarge Group companies, and together constitute the largest diversified supplier of construction materials in the United States and Canada. 

With the world’s leading building materials research facility, the Lafarge Group places innovation at the heart of its priorities in order to contribute to more sustainable construction and to better serve architectural creativity. Since 2010, the Group has been part of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, the first global sustainability benchmark in recognition of its sustainable development actions. More information is available on the Lafarge Group’s website:  www.lafarge.com. 


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