Tama Art University Library by Toyo Ito.

Photos: Scott Norsworthy.

The announcement a few days ago that the 2013 Pritzker Architecture Prize, perhaps the richest and most coveted in architecture, will go to Toyo Ito was greeted with something approaching inevitability in most quarters.

With the glamour and hype surrounding such an announcement, it is sometimes easy to overlook the real qualities of less well known buildings that form the body of a distinguished career’s work. Often it is these works that form the solid platform upon which the more famous projects are built.

With this in mind I came across some images of the Tama Art University Library in Tokyo, not Ito's most famous work, but in its exquisite detailing of concrete, makes the difficult look effortless.

Such skill with concrete is also something of a hallmark for Toyo Ito, and something, an emblem almost, that can inspire us all to strive for better buildings.

Gratitude to Archidose and Scott Norsworthy.