The Life and Work of Acclaimed Japanese Architect Tadao Ando.
The Life and Work of Acclaimed Japanese Architect Tadao Ando.
Tadao Ando, a self-taught Japanese architect was born in Minato-ku, Osaka in 1941. After being a boxer for a short period, Ando began his self-education by apprenticing with several professional designers and city planners. He attended night classes to learn drawing and took correspondence courses in interior design.
At the age of 18, he visited temples, shrines, and tea houses in Kyoto and Nara, observing the traditional architecture in the area. In the 1960s he traveled to Europe and the United States to analyze great buildings and document his observations in a detailed sketchbook.
He visited buildings designed by renowned architects like Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Louis Kahn. He returned to Osaka in 1968 to establish his own design studio. Today he is known as one of the famous architects.
He has been awarded numerous times. Some of his awards include: Alvar Aalto Medal in 1985; Pritzker Prize in1995; RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1997; AIA Gold Medal, 2002 and Neutra Medal for Professional Excellence in 2012
1. Church of Light
Church of Light was built in 1989. Tadao is of the view that houses and religious places should not be differentiated. In a book by Jin Baek entitled Nothingness: Tadao Ando’s Christian Sacred Space, Tadao commenting on his religious architecture is quoted as saying, “We do not need to differentiate one from the other. Dwelling in a house is not only a functional issue but also a spiritual one. The house is the locus of mind (Kokoro), and the mind is the locus of god. Dwelling in a house is a search for the mind (Kokoro) as the locus of God, just as one goes to church to search for god. An important role of the church is to enhance this sense of the spiritual. In a spiritual place, people find peace in their mind (Kokoro), as in their homeland.”
2. Rokko Housing
The housing complex at Rokko is located outside Kobe in Japan. The designs for Rokko Housing One were completed in (1983) and for Rokko Housing Two (1993) respectively. The structures survived after the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995.
3. Meditation Space, UNESCO
The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization was founded at the end of World War II, with the aim of promoting peace, scientific co-operation and cultural exchange. In 1995 UNESCO celebrated its 50th anniversary. To commemorate its milestone anniversary space was created for meditation at the organization’s headquarters in Paris. It is deemed a place to contemplate a world without conflict and with lasting peace, regardless of individual differences and beliefs. It was financed through Japanese private donations.
4. Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth is located in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. It was built in 2002. The museum was constructed with only concrete, steel, aluminum, glass, and granite and is reflected in the surrounding pond. Light plays a key role in the design emphasizing both diffused and reflected natural light.
The jury of the Pritzker Architecture Prize explains why Tadao won the 1995 Pritzker Architecture Prize: “Tadao Ando is that rare architect who combines artistic and intellectual sensitivity in a single individual capable of producing buildings, large and small that both serve and inspire. His powerful inner vision ignores whatever movements, schools or styles that might be current, creating buildings with form and composition related to the kind of life that will be lived there.”