Tadao Ando

Architect of Light

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Charlotte Bell
ID 553, Modern Design and Architecture
Fall 2005

Tadao Ando
Tadao Ando is a architect of light, a master of space, and a builder for humanity

(Slides 1-2). His work, realized primarily in precisely finished reinforced concrete (Slide 3),

unifies building and nature to create a deep sense of sanctuary (Slide 4).

Ando was born in Osaka, Japan in 1941. From the age of 10 to 17, he was employed

as a carpenter, learning to work in wood in the Japanese tradition. His interest in architecture

began when he obtained a book of Le Corbusier sketches when he was about 18. He relates

that he traced over the drawings “so many times that all the pages turned black.”

Ando is a self-taught architect. He apprenticed for brief periods with local designers

and city planners, but primarily developed his skills by reading extensively, studying

Japanese shrines, temples and tea houses, and making study trips to Europe and the United

States to view, sketch, and analyze buildings by the great architects of the time. He was

particularly influenced by Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Alvar Aalto, Frank

Lloyd Wright, and Louis Kahn (Slide 5).

Although Ando opened his architecture firm in 1969, he became widely known in

1976 with the completion of a small row house in urban Osaka called Azuma House (Slide

6). The house is a simple, narrow concrete rectangle with living spaces surrounding an

interior courtyard. The design serves two purposes. First, the plain unpunctuated façade

creates a private barrier between the urban street and the interior living spaces, offering

respite from the hectic city life. Second, the inner courtyard opens to the sky, admitting

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abundant light and providing a direct connection with the outdoors. The open courtyard

allows residents to experience nature without the distractions of the city. Ando’s intention in

creating this design was to return to a traditional Japanese life-style of “contact with light,

air, rain, and other natural elements” within the confines of a small physical space. The

house, in essence, reinstates a traditional model using a modern vocabulary. In 1979, Ando

received the top prize of the Architectural Institute of Japan for Azuma House.

Ando himself considers Azuma House to be the “point of origin” for his subsequent

work. His approach in Azuma House – “to connect the art of building to the art of living” –

became his goal. In his own words: “I try to relate the fixed form and compositional method

to the kind of life that will be lived in the given space and to local regional society.” In the

case of Azuma House, the life to be lived was that of busy urban dweller whose opportunities

to experience nature were few, but each of his subsequent designs have met the same

challenge.

Ando designs independent of any movement or school of architecture, responding

instead to his own inner vision. The key elements of his work are walls, light, and wind,

composed in surprising juxtapositions (Slide 7). He fashions enclosing geometric walls of

thick concrete to create powerful and satisfying interiors that provide a private zone for the

individual against the chaos of urban forces. He uses glass and the play of light and wind

within his structures to bring the calming aspects of nature inside (Slide 8). His architecture

flows from inside to outside, across levels, and through space. Ando’s work is timeless and

universal.

Ando’s primary material is concrete (Slide 9). In the tradition of Japanese carpentry,

he uses precisely crafted wooden forms for his work, varnished and finely polished on the

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inside to achieve a “smooth-as-silk” finish. The evenly-spaced holes in his walls are from the

bolts that hold the forms together. Ando combines his concrete with large faces of glass and

steel frames and often juxtaposes these elements with natural rock and flowing water.

In the 1980’s, Ando designed the Rokko Housing complex on a steep hillside

overlooking Kobe Harbor (Slide 10). The complex of apartments is a collection of modular

units, 18’ x 18.’ The modules ascend the hill, adjusting to the topography, and are connected

by a central staircase and public spaces. Despite their modularity, the interiors of each

apartment are unique Ando considers this complex to be one of his most important works,

best representing his ideas.

Ando built a number of chapels during the 1980s and early 1990s. His most famous is

the Chapel of the Light at Ibaraki (Slides 11-12) in which light creates a spiritual calm and

sense of awe. Visitors approach through a narrow pathway between two concrete masses,

making a 180 degree turn to enter the sanctuary itself. The sanctuary is dramatically lit by

slits in the dense concrete walls. In the apse, the wall is perforated in the shape of a cross,

admitting a brilliant stream of light into the chapel that moves across the otherwise dark

sanctuary with the motion of the sun.

His Church on the Water (Slide 13-14) shows the importance of water in his works.

In this chapel, sited among wooded hills, visitors first enter a fully-glazed cubical room, then

descend via a darkened, curved stairway into the sanctuary. The chapel opens to a dramatic

vista of a cross rising from the surface of a serene lake. As with the Chapel of Light, Ando

uses the dramatic juxtaposition of dark passageways with an unexpected opening to light and

nature, reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright’s use of compressed entrances opening into larger

and lighter spaces.

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 Ando’s fascination with water can be seen in other works as well. Both his Nariwa

Museum and Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth are placed in bodies of water (Slide 15). To

enter the Nariwa, visitors ascend an open-air stairway winding around the outside of a

windowless concrete structure rising from a lake, with views of the landscaped grounds. The

Modern Art Museum is also sited in a body of water, its glazed ground floor at water level,

giving the impression from both inside and outside that the building is actually rising from

the water in primordial birth.

Water not only provides an opportunity for juxtaposition and attunement with nature,

but also creates paths, another common theme in Ando’s work (Slide 16). In his Children’s

Museum, Ando designed sweeping waterfall terraces between which visitors walk. Wide

stone stairways and a diagonal slicing wall disappear beneath the surrounding rocks, creating

a dramatic path to the rooftop terrace in the Naoshima Contemporary Art Museum.

In 1995, Ando was awarded the Pritzker Prize, the highest honor given to architects.

Ando defines architecture as “the box that provokes.” He says, “I do not believe

architecture should speak too much. It should remain silent and let nature in the guise of

sunlight and wind speak.” His gift is to create spaces that respond to human needs and spirit,

juxtaposing powerful concrete walls with light and nature to create a deep sense of peace

(Slide 17). Using simple materials and geometry, Ando has produced a volume of exquisite

work.

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 Selected Works

Azuma House, Kobe, Japan (1975) (Slide 6)

This narrow row house is simple concrete building. Its façade is blank except for a
doorway. Inside, the living areas surround an inner atrium that admits light. The
structure protects residents from the chaos of urban life yet admits natural elements of
light to allow them to re-connect with nature.

Chikatsu-Asuka Historical Museum, Osaka (1990-94) (Slide 7)

This museum, which exhibits burial mound culture and tombs, is designed as a hill to
view the surrounding excavation site. Its roof is a large stepped plaza enclosing a
darkened tomb-like interior. Visitors are guided to the top of the roof by wide stone
steps and a strong diagonal wall.

Children’s Museum, Himeji, Japan (1987-1989) (Slide 16)

Situated on a hill overlooking a lake, this museum has three parts – a main museum, a
plaza, and a workshop complex – linked by a long pathway. Ando incorporates water
in several pools and a dramatic stepped fan-shaped waterfall.

Church of the Light, Ibaraki, Japan (1987-1989) (Slides 11-12)

Perhaps Ando’s most famous work, the Church of the Light uses concrete and light to
create a moving sanctuary. The building is composed of two rectangles sliced through
by diagonal walls. Visitors travel along the angled wall between the volumes to the
chapel entry, where they must turn 180 degrees to align themselves with the chapel
itself. On the alter end of the structure, Ando has pierced the concrete wall in a simple
cruciform, allowing vivid slits of light to penetrate into the minimalist space, the rays
moving over time with the course of the sun.

Church on the Water, Hokkaido, Japan (1985-1988) (Slides 2, 13, and 14)

Located in a rural area and seeming to grow naturally from the hillside, the Church on
the Water has a plan with two intersecting squares. Visitors enter into the small
glazed upper space then descend into the chapel through a narrow darkened curving
stairway. At the bottom is the sanctuary with a harmonious vista through the fully-
glazed wall to the hills and a serene lake with a cross arising from its surface. The
window-wall can be rolled aside, opening the interior of the church fully to nature.
The chapel creates an introspective mood.

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Collezione, Tokyo, Japan (1986-1987) (Slide 2)

A commercial complex, this steel and reinforced concrete project consists of a

number of interlocking geometric forms. A staircase spirals around and between the
volumes.

International Library of Children’s Literature, Tokyo (2002) (Slide 8)

This addition to a Renaissance style library originally built in 1906 uses concrete and
glass to effectively juxtapose the old with the new. The transparency of the glass
allows the old structure to be fully realized.

Kidosaki House, Tokyo, Japan (1982-1986) (Slide 7)

This suburban residence, designed as a multi-family dwelling, consists of a cubic

volume surrounded by a protective perimeter wall. The exterior and interior spaces
provide a sanctuary for the families yet allow privacy in the separate living quarters.

Koshino House, Ashiya, Japan (1979-1981) (Slides 2 and 7)

Koshino House, set partly underground on a wooded mountain slope, consists of two
reinforced concrete structures on either side of a central courtyard. Light slots in the
walls and skylights create patterns of sunlight on the walls.

Meditation Space, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France (1994-1995) (Slide 4)

This small single-storey, reinforced concrete space is dedicated to prayer for eternal,
global peace for people of all ethnic, religious, cultural, or historical backgrounds.
The space is serene and solemn.

Modern Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas ( 2002) (Slide 15)

This concrete and glass museum arises directly out of a 2-acre pool, demonstrating
Ando’s continuing ability to juxtapose mass with water and light. Built on a modular
plan and using only white and gray, the building is well-ordered and calm. Ando sets
up a rhythm of contrasting volumes, densities, and lightings to impart energy to the
visitor.

Naoshima Contemporary Art Museum, Naoshima Island, Japan (1988-1990) (Slides 4

and 16)

Sited on a bluff above a quiet beach, this museum welcomes visitors arriving by boat
with a stepped plaza leading up to the stone rubble walled building. Visitors enter the
gallery into a two-story underground gallery 50 meters long, but only 8 meters wide.
Because more than half of the complex is underground, the structure becomes part of
the natural landscape.

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Nariwa Museum, Nariwa, Japan (1992-1994) (Slide 15)

This museum is a box surrounded by a protective wall built from old stones. Visitors
ascend an angled ramp around the concrete box to approach the entrance and are
treated to a view of a planted slope and a large expanse of water. The museum is a
place where nature, culture and history are intertwined.

Old/New Rokko Restaurant, Kobe, Japan (1985-1986) (Slide 7)

Built on a steep gradient, this multi-storey complex was composed around three
ancient trees. The space, an intersecting rectangle and semi-circle, has large expanses
of glass to create sense of being in nature.

Oxy Unagidani, Osaka, Japan (1986-1988) (Slide 3)

This commercial complex consists of an off-square building surrounded on two sides

by a stairwell and building-height concrete wall. One side of the building is fully
glazed. The photograph shows Ando’s signature concrete work.

Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, St. Louis, Missouri ( 1997-2001) (Slides 8 and 9)

The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts building is a massive rectilinear concrete
structure with cantilevered rooflines reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie
House. Ando introduced his method of forming concrete to the U.S. in this museum.
Hand-constructed concrete forms were sealed and polished to create the smooth shiny
concrete surface that is Ando’s trademark.

Rokko Housing, Kobe, Japan (1981-83 and 1985-89) (Slide 10)

This housing complex is built on a steep slope overlooking the city. Ando created
apartments using a grid of 5.2 meter cubes, some enclosed, some open. The complex
features a central staircase from top to bottom. Each of the units is unique despite the
overall uniformity of the modular structure.

Vitra Seminar House, Weil-am-Rhein, Germany (1989-1993) (Slide 17)

A guest house designed for executives of a German company, this structure is built
partly underground to minimize its impact on the surroundings. The design consists
of a rectangle, a square sunken court, another rectangle set at a 60 degree angle to the
first, and a cylindrical volume that forms a spatial void.

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 Bibliography

Azuma House Commentary, Great Buildings Online.

http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Azuma_House.html.

Bollinger, Elizabeth. “Ando’s New Modern.” Architecture Week (2003).

http://www.architectureweek.com.

Davis, Carolyn Armenta. “Tadao Ando: A Master of Mystical Places.” ISDesigNet Magazine
(1995). http://www.isdesignet.com/Magazine/Sep’95/PritzkerPrize.html.

Pare, Richard. Tadao Ando: The Colours of Light. London: Phaidon Press Limited, 1996.

Pritzker Architecture Prize. Citations, remarks, and biographical material associated with the
naming of Tadao Ando as the 1995 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate.
http://www.pritzkerprize.com.

Tadao Ando, interview by Betty J. Blum. Chicago Architects Oral History Project, Art
Institute of Chicago (May 25, 2001), available at
http://www.artic.edu/aic/libraries/caohp/ando.html.

Tadao Ando, interview by the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts (March 2003), available at
http://www.pulitzerarts.org.

“Tadao Ando UIA Gold Medal.” Architecture Week (2005).

http://www.architectureweek.com.

Additional websites:

http://www.andotadao.org
http://www.arcspace.com
http://www.designboom.com
http://www.archinform.net, http:/architect.architecture.sk/tadao-ando-architect/tadao-
ando-architect.php
http://library.thinkquest.org/27458/swf/architecture/ando.html
http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/churchoflight