Image: Corus's friendly wave inspires Ito in Singapore

Japanese star architect Toyo Ito has created a wave inspired façade and roof for Singapore’s new harbour-front development VivoCity.

The finished circular hollow sections, supplied through Corus International’s Singapore office, uses 280 tonnes of material.

Ito explained: “I wanted to create a fluid shopping enjoyment where one space leads intuitively into another. This structure does not separate the space by floor, but is connected as one continuous experience.”

The development boasts over 1 million sq ft of floor space, in excess of 300 retailers, large event spaces, including an outdoor amphitheatre, a 20,000 square foot open plaza and a 300 m harbour front boardwalk.

The scheme is Toyo Ito’s first major project in Asia outside of Japan. Known for his signature style that focuses on the utilisation of nature, climate and open spaces, the design of VivoCity moves away from the traditional box format of many existing and upcoming developments in the region, to take inspiration from the harbour front location to evoke images of waves.