Toyo Ito, a Japanese architect who broke from Modernism and designed a library that survived his country’s catastrophic 2011 earthquake, has been awarded his profession’s top honor, the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

    The Priztker jury described Toyo Ito as a creator of timeless buildings, who at the same time boldly charts new paths. His architecture projects an air of optimism, lightness and joy and is infused with both sense of uniqueness and universality.

    Mr. Ito, 71, said he was gratified by the honor, especially because it represents an acceptance of his position as an iconoclast who has challenged the past 100 years of Modernism.

    Looking back over his career, Mr. Ito was particularly proud of the Sendai Mediatheque, the library that was completed in Sendai, Japan, in 2001. The building’s design is dominated by structural tubes that support the floor plates and provide circulation, pathways that the Pritzker jury said “permitted new interior spatial qualities.”

    Other than Sendai Mediatheque, Mr. Ito also designed a stadium in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, that was built for the World Games in 2009. He has also been drawn to practical retail projects like a building for Tod’s, the Italian shoe and handbag company, and the facade of the Mikimoto Ginza 2 flagship store – both in Tokyo. And he continues to design ambitious public projects like the Taichung opera house in Taiwan and Tama Art University Library near Tokyo.

    And he has received his share of awards, including in 2010, the Praemium Imperiale, which recognizes lifetime achievement in areas of the arts not covered by the Nobel Prizes.