Tadao Ando (安藤 忠雄, Andō Tadao, born 13 September 1941) is a Japanese self-taught architect whose approach to architecture and landscape was categorized by architectural historian Francesco Dal Co as "critical regionalism". He is the winner of the 1995 Pritzker Prize.
Ando was born a few minutes before his twin brother in 1941 in Osaka, Japan. At the age of two, his family chose to separate them, and have Tadao live with his grandmother. He worked as a boxer before settling on the profession of architect, despite never having formal training in the field. Struck by the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Imperial Hotel on a trip to Tokyo as a second-year high school student, he eventually decided to end his boxing career less than two years after graduating from high school to pursue architecture.[4] He attended night classes to learn drawing and took correspondence courses on interior design.[5] He visited buildings designed by renowned architects like Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Louis Kahn before returning to Osaka in 1968 to establish his own design studio, Tadao Ando Architects and Associates.
1. 21_21 Design Sight (2007)
A meeting of two of the country’s biggest design minds, 21_21 Design Sight is a collaborative effort between Ando and iconic fashion designer Issey Miyake. This design gallery is located in the densely museum-populated district of Roppongi. The idea of this particular building was not only to show works, but to create a center that looks into how the element of design enriches our daily lives.
Take some time to inspect the carefully hand-sanded steel roof, inspired by Issey Miyake's A-POC ("A Piece of Cloth") concept. Though most of this building is actually located underground, the long stretching panels of glass ingenuously allow natural light to flood the concrete bunker.
While you're visiting 21_21, here are some other top things to do in the Roppongi Art Triangle!
Address: 9-7-6 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo.
2. Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art (2002)
The Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art in Kobe is another impressive work by this concrete loving architect. The purpose built municipal art gallery was opened in 2002 and features a variety of works from both foreign and Japanese artists. The most striking element of this art space is the staircases that have provided plenty of photographic fodder over the years! With architecture as striking as the art it holds, this place is really something special for art lovers of all walks of life.
Address: 1-1-1 Wakinohamakaigandori, Chuo, Kobe, Hyogo
3. Church of Light (1989)
If you ever find yourself in the humble town of Ibaraki, about 25km outside of Osaka it would be a crime not to pay a visit to the Church of Light, one of Ando’s signature architectural works. Blending design, spirituality and history all into one building, this renovation Christian compound is nothing short of astonishing.
The mainly concrete building plays with light - an ideology similar the stained glass windows of traditional Christian churches - but he turns the whole idea on its head completely. This dark, meditative concrete shell of a building is pierced by an illuminated cross that transmits the natural outdoor light into the church hall. Mixing innovation with simplicity, this is one work Tadao Ando fans cannot miss.
Address: 4-3-50 Kitakasugaoka, Ibaraki, Osaka.
4. The Oval at Benesse Art Museum Naoshima (1995)
Ando had a big hand in creating the landscape of Naoshima, an island that is now one of the most famous modern art destinations in Asia, and possibly the world. While writing a feature on Tadao’s work and the works of Naoshima would require a whole new article, let’s just look at The Oval as an example piece.
The Oval is one of Ando’s most immersive works as it’s a hotel. Only guests staying at the Oval have access to the space, which was constructed around the concept of coexistence between nature, art, and architecture. The building blends effortlessly into its surroundings while not being restricted by it. Built on a hill overlooking the Seto Inland Sea and the natural beauty of Naoshima, it’s just a taste of Ando’s work on this incredible island.
Address: 3419 Miyanoura, Naoshima, Kagawa-gun, Kagawa.
5. 4x4 house (2003)
The 4x4 house plan was built in the aftermath of the Great Hanshin earthquake. The architecture magazine Brutus invited its readers to submit development ideas to a selection of architects. The latter picked this sea-front site idea.[1] The redevelopment project was comprised or narrow and chaotic strips of lands. Tadao Ando had already done the Church on the Water on the close-by island of Hokkaido (4km away) which was the epicenter of the 1995 earthquake. The house was built in 2003.
The lot, about 65 square metres, was the property of Yoshinari Nakata. 1/4 of the land is regularly flooded by seawater. Nakata was the reader who suggested his own lot to the Brutus call-to-submission. Tadao Ando was interested by the site's limitations and its closeness to the 1995 earthquake.
An identical house (4x4 house II) was commissioned to Ando Tadao by the neighbor of the adjacent plot (built in 2004), but the two twin houses were built using different materials. The 4x4 has a staircase and is made of concrete, and its copy has an elevator and is made of wood (laminated pine from Oregon and Paulownia wood). Using different materials was a suggestion made by the architect. The architect has often worked on twin and/or dualistic structures (and he has a twin brother). This brutalist modernist house on the beach is close to surrealistic.
The architect has also published an addition proposition for the house, a straight concrete staircase descending from the house to the sandy beach, with a square concrete patio at the base of the stairs that sinks under water when the sea is at full tide.
Before the construction of the 4x4 house, the authorities did not consider this trip of land to be constructible.
6. Osaka Culturarium at Tempozan (1994)
One of Osaka city’s most striking buildings, the Osaka Culturarium at Tempozan is an embodiment of Ando’s love of pushing the architectural boundaries while exploring one of his favorite themes, the meeting of man, water and architecture. Situated on the Osaka harbor, this exhibition venue flows effortlessly into the neighboring ocean, blurring the lines of where exactly man and nature meet.
Many of Japan's best museums blend art and nature into an incredibly enlightening and refreshing destination. Check out some of our other favorites in the 6 Best Museums in Japan Where Art and Nature Collide!
Address: 1-5-10 Kaigandori, Minato, Osaka.
7. Chichu Art Museum (2004)
Overflowing with the most groundbreaking contemporary art museums you’ll find anywhere in the world, it’s also the unofficial island of Tadao Ando. He designed a number of buildings on the area, but arguably the most famous is the Chichu Art Museum.
Keeping the harmony between man and nature in mind, Ando built most of this museum underground to avoid impacting the naturally beautiful scenery of the Seto Inland Sea that borders the island. Keeping a very minimal aesthetic, the space is mainly built from concrete, providing the perfect low key (though still fascinating) backdrop to the works by James Turrell, Walter De Maria and Claude Monet that live inside.
Address: 3449-1 Tsumuura, Naoshima, Kagawa-gun, Kagawa.
8. Water Temple Hyogo (1991)
Tadao continued his unique envisioning of spiritual spaces with this, Honpukuji is a temple originally envisioned for the Shingon Buddhist sect. The modernist temple is connected to the original temple compound and cemetery by a sloping uphill path, thus connecting the past with the modern-day. At the top of the structure sits a pool of water that artfully reflects the natural beauty of the structure’s surroundings, blending it into the scenery.
Splitting the pool in two is a staircase which leads down to the temple’s most sacred site, the inner sanctuary. Visitors are gradually introduced into the sanctuary by the vermillion light which bounces off the concrete walls of the passageway, the light gradually growing brighter as you approach the inner sanctum. It’s an ideal example of three recurring themes in Ando’s work, his connection to spirituality, his playfulness with light, and his focus on blending his works with the natural surroundings.
Address: 1310 Ura, Awaji, Hyogo.
9. Chapel on the Water (1988)
Church on the Water (Japanese: 水の教会) also known as Chapel on the Water is a privately owned wedding chapel in Tomamu, Shimukappu on the island of Hokkaido in Japan. The chapel faces a large reflecting pool visible through a large floor-to-ceiling window in the Japanese architectural tradition of shakkei.
The building is a notable project of Japanese modernist architect Tadao Ando who designed the structure in 1985.
Address: Nakatomamu, Shimukappu, Yufutsu District, Hokkaido.
10. Osaka Prefectural Sayamaike Museum (2001)
Osaka Prefectural Chikatsu Asuka Museum (大阪府立近つ飛鳥博物館, Ōsaka Furitsu Chikatsu Asuka Hakubutsukan) is a prefectural museum in Kanan, Ōsaka Prefecture, Japan dedicated to the area of Chikatsu Asuka during the Kofun and Asuka periods. The region is first documented in the Kojiki. The Chikatsu Asuka Fudoki-No-Oka Historical Park contains over two hundred burial mounds including four imperial tombs and those of Shōtoku Taishi and Ono no Imoko. The exhibition hall is divided into three sections: Foreign influence during the Kofun and Asuka periods; Kofun and the origins of the ancient realm; and The application of science to cultural heritage. The museum was designed by Tadao Ando and opened in 1994.
Address: 2 Ikejiri-naka, Osakasayama City, Osaka.
