About Tadao Ando

Tadao Ando (Ando Tadao, born Sep­tem­ber 13, 1941 in Osaka, Japan) is a Japan­ese archi­tect whose approach to archi­tec­ture is some­times cat­e­gorised as Crit­i­cal Region­al­ism. Ando has led a sto­ried life, work­ing as a truck dri­ver and boxer prior to set­tling on the pro­fes­sion of archi­tec­ture, despite never hav­ing taken for­mal train­ing in the field.

He works pri­mar­ily in exposed cast-in-place con­crete and is renowned for an exem­plary crafts­man­ship which invokes a Japan­ese sense of mate­ri­al­ity, junc­tion and spa­tial nar­ra­tive through the pared aes­thet­ics of inter­na­tional modernism.

Image gallery after the break— Image gallery »

In 1969, he estab­lished the firm Tadao Ando Archi­tects & Asso­ciates. In 1995, Ando won the pres­ti­gious Pritzker Archi­tec­ture Prize medal­lion. He donated the $100,000 prize money to the orphans of the 1995 Kobe earthquake.

Build­ings and works

Ando’s build­ings are often char­ac­ter­ized by com­plex three-dimensional cir­cu­la­tion paths. These paths inter­weave between inte­rior and exte­rior spaces formed both inside large-scale geo­met­ric shapes and in the spaces between them.

His “Row House in Sumiyoshi” (Azuma House), a small two-story, cast-in-place con­crete house com­pleted in 1976, is an early work that begins to show ele­ments of his char­ac­ter­is­tic style. It con­sists of three equally sized rec­tan­gu­lar vol­umes: two enclosed vol­umes of inte­rior spaces sep­a­rated by an open court­yard. By nature of the courtyard’s posi­tion between the two inte­rior vol­umes, it becomes an inte­gral part of the house’s cir­cu­la­tion system.

Com­pleted

• Tomishima House, Osaka, Japan, 1973
• Uchida House, 1974
• Uno House, Kyoto, Japan, 1974
• Hiraoka House, Hyogo Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1974
• Shi­bata House, Ashiya, Hyogo Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1974
• Tat­sumi House, Osaka, Japan, 1975
• Soseikan-Yamaguchi House, Hyogo Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1975
• Taka­hashi House, Ashiya, Hyogo Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1975
• Mat­sumura House, Kobe, Japan, 1975
• Row House (Azuma House), Sumiyoshi, Osaka, Japan, 1976
• Hirabayashi House, Osaka Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1976
• Ban­sho House, Aichi Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1976
• Tezukayama Tower Plaza, Sumiyoshi, Osaka, Japan, 1976
• Tezukayama House-Manabe House, Osaka, Japan, 1977
• Wall House (Mat­sumoto House), Ashiya, Hyogo Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1977
• Glass Block House (Ishi­hara House), Osaka, Japan, 1978
• Okusu House, Seta­gaya, Tokyo, Japan, 1978
• Glass Block Wall (Hori­uchi House), Sumiyoshi, Osaka, Japan, 1979
• Katayama Build­ing, Nishi­nomiya, Hyogo Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1979
• Onishi House, Sumiyoshi, Osaka, Japan, 1979
• Mat­su­tani House, Kyoto, Japan, 1979
• Ueda House, Okayama Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1979
• STEP, Taka­matsu, Kagawa Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1980
• Mat­sumoto House, Wakayama, Wakayama Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1980
• Fuku House, Wakayama, Wakayama Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1980
• Ban­sho House Addi­tion, Aichi Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1981
• Koshino House, Ashiya, Hyogo Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1981
• Kojima Hous­ing (Sato House), Okayama Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1981
• Ate­lier in Oyodo, Osaka, Japan, 1981
• Tea House for Soseikan-Yamaguchi House, Hyogo Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1982
• Ishii House, Shizuoka Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1982
• Aka­bane House, Seta­gaya, Tokyo, Japan, 1982
• Kujo Town­house (Izutsu House), Osaka, Japan, 1982
• Rokko Hous­ing One, Rokko, Hyogo pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1983 map
• BIGI Ate­lier, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, 1983
• Umemiya House, Kobe, Japan, 1983
• Kaneko House, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, 1983
• Fes­ti­val, Naha, Oki­nawa pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1984
• TIME’S, Kyoto, Japan, 1984
• Koshino House Addi­tion, Ashiya, Hyogo Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1984
• MELROSE, Meguro, Tokyo, Japan, 1984
• Uejo House, Osaka Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1984
• Ota House, Okayama Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1984
• Moteki House, Kobe, Japan, 1984
• Iwasa House, Ashiya, Hyogo Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1984
• Hata House, Nishi­nomiya, Hyogo Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1984
• Ate­lier Yoshie Inaba, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, 1985
• JUN Port Island Build­ing, Kobe, Japan, 1985
• Mon-petit-chou, Kyoto, Japan, 1985
• Guest House for Hat­tori House, Osaka, Japan, 1985
• Taiyo Cement Head­quar­ters Build­ing, Osaka, Japan, 1986
• TS Build­ing, Osaka, Japan, 1986
• Chapel on Mount Rokko, Kobe, Japan, 1986
• OLD/NEW Rokko, Kobe, Japan, 1986
• Kidosaki House, Seta­gaya, Tokyo, Japan, 1986
• Fukuhara Clinic, Seta­gaya, Tokyo, Japan, 1986
• Sasaki House, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, 1986
• Main Pavil­ion for Ten­noji Fair, Osaka, Japan, 1987
• Karaza The­ater, 1987
• Ueda House Addi­tion, Okayama Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1987
• Church on the Water, Tomamu, Hokkaido pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1988
• GALLERIA akka, Osaka, Japan, 1988
• Children’s Museum, Himeji, Hyogo pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1989
• Church of the Light, Ibaraki, Osaka pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1989 [1] [2]
• COLLEZIONE, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, 1989
• Moro­zoff P&P Stu­dio, Kobe, Japan, 1989
• RAIKA Head­quar­ters, Osaka, Japan, 1989
• Nat­sukawa Memo­r­ial Hall, Hikone, Shiga Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1989
• Yao Clinic, Neya­gawa, Osaka Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1989
• Mat­su­tani House Addi­tion, Kyoto, Japan, 1990
• Ito House, Seta­gaya, Tokyo, Japan, 1990
• Iwasa House Addi­tion, Ashiya, Hyogo Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1990
• Gar­den of Fine Arts, Osaka, Japan, 1990
• S Build­ing, Osaka, Japan, 1990
• Water Tem­ple, Awaji Island, Hyogo pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1991 [3]
• Ate­lier in Oyodo II, Osaka, Japan, 1991
• TIME’S II, Kyoto, Japan, 1991
• Museum of Lit­er­a­ture, Himeji, Hyogo, Japan, 1991
• Sayoh Hous­ing, Hyogo Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1991
• Minolta Sem­i­nar House, Kobe, Japan, 1991
• Naoshima Con­tem­po­rary Art Museum, Naoshima, Kagawa pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1995 [4] [5]
• Japan­ese Pavil­ion for Expo 92, Seville, Spain, 1992
• Otemae Art Cen­ter, Nishi­nomiya, Hyogo Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1992
• For­est of Tombs Museum, Kumamoto Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1992
• Rokko Hous­ing Two, Rokko, Kobe, Japan, 1993
• Vitra Sem­i­nar House, Weil am Rhein, Ger­many, 1993
• Gallery Noda, Kobe, Japan, 1993
• YKK Sem­i­nar House, Chiba Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1993
• Sun­tory Museum, Osaka, Japan, 1994
• MAXRAY Head­quar­ters Build­ing, Osaka, Japan, 1994
• Chikatsu-Asuka His­tor­i­cal Museum, Osaka Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1994
• Kiyo Bank, Sakai Build­ing, Sakai, Osaka Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1994
• Gar­den of Fine Art, Kyoto, Japan, 1994
• Museum of wood cul­ture, Kami, Hyogo Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1994
• Inamori Audi­to­rium, Kagoshima, Japan, 1994
• Nariwa Museum, Okayama Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1994
• Ate­lier in Oyodo Annex, Osaka, Japan, 1995
• Nagara­gawa Con­ven­tion Cen­ter, Gifu, Japan, 1995
• Naoshima Con­tem­po­rary Art Museum Annex, Naoshima, Kagawa Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1995
• Med­i­ta­tion Space, UNESCO, Paris, France, 1995
• Shang­hai Pusan Ferry Ter­mi­nal, Osaka, Japan, 1996
• Museum of Lit­er­a­ture II, Himeji, Hyogo Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1996
• Gallery Chi­i­saime (Sawada House), Nishi­nomiya, Hyogo Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1996
• Museum of Gojo Cul­ture & Annex, Gojo, Nara Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1997
• TOTO Sem­i­nar House, Hyogo Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1997
• Yokogu­rayama Nat­ural For­est Museum, Kochi Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1997
• Harima Kogen Higashi Pri­mary School & Junior High School, Hyogo Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1997
• Koumi Kogen Museum, Nagano Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1997
• Eychaner/Lee House, Chicago, Illi­nois, 1997
• Daikoku Denki Head­quar­ters Build­ing, Aichi Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1998
• Day­light Museum, Shiga Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1998
• Junichi Watan­abe Memo­r­ial Hall, Sap­poro, Japan, 1998
• Asahi Shim­bun Okayama Bureau, Okayama, Japan, 1998
• Sid­dhartha Chil­dren and Women Hos­pi­tal, But­wal, Nepal, 1998
• Church of the Light Sun­day School, Ibaraki, Osaka Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1999
• Rokko Hous­ing III, Kobe, Japan, 1999
• Shell Museum, Nishi­nomiya, Hyogo Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 1999
• FABRICA (Benet­ton Com­mu­ni­ca­tion Research Cen­ter), Tre­viso, Italy, 2000
• Awaji-Yumebutai, Hyogo Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 2000 map
• Rock­field Shizuoka Fac­tory, Shizuoka, Japan, 2000
• Pulitzer Foun­da­tion for the Arts, St. Louis, Mis­souri, 2001 [6]
• Ryotaro Shiba Memo­r­ial Museum, Higash­iosaka, Osaka pre­fec­ture, Japan, 2001
• Hyogo Pre­fec­tural Museum of Art, Kobe, Hyogo Pre­fec­ture, Japan, 2002 [7]
• Mod­ern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas, 2002 [8]
• Pic­cadilly Gar­dens, Man­ches­ter, UK, 2003
• Chichu Art Museum, Naoshima, Kagawa pre­fec­ture, Japan, 2004 [9]
• Mori­moto restau­rant in the Chelsea Mar­ket, his first project in Man­hat­tan, opened Jan­u­ary 2006.
• Omote­sando Hills, Jingu­mae 4-Chome, Tokyo, Japan, 2006

In progress

• House, sta­ble, and mau­soleum for for­mer fash­ion designer Tom Ford , near Santa Fe, New Mexico
• Expan­sion for the Clark Art Insti­tute in Williamstown, Massachusetts
• Rebuild­ing the Kobe Kai­sei Hos­pi­tal in Nada Ward, Kobe, Japan

Awards

• Annual Prize (Row House, Sumiyoshi), Archi­tec­tural Institue of Japan, 1979
• Cul­tural Design Prize (Rokko Hous­ing One and Two), Japan, 1983
• Alvar Aalto Medal, The Finnish Asso­ci­a­tion of Archi­tects, 1985
• Gold Medal of Archi­tec­ture, French Acad­emy of Archi­tec­ture, 1989
• Carls­berg Archi­tec­tural Prize, Den­mark, 1992
• Japan Art Acad­emy Prize, Japan, 1993
• Pritzker Archi­tec­ture Prize, 1995
• Cheva­lier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Let­tres, France, 1995
• Praemium Impe­ri­ale First “FRATE SOLE” Award in Archi­tec­ture, Japan Art Asso­ci­a­tion, 1996
• Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Let­tres, France, 1997
• Royal Gold Medal, Royal Insti­tute of British Archi­tects (RIBA), 1997
• AIA Gold Medal, Amer­i­can Insti­tute of Archi­tects (AIA), 2002

Ref­er­ences

• Francesco Dal Co. Tadao Ando: Com­plete Works. Phaidon Press, 1997. ISBN 0714837172
• Ken­neth Framp­ton. Tadao Ando: Build­ings, Projects, Writ­ings. Riz­zoli Inter­na­tional Pub­li­ca­tions, 1984. ISBN 0847805476
• Ran­dall J. Van Vynckt. Inter­na­tional Dic­tio­nary of Archi­tects and Archi­tec­ture. St. James Press, 1993. ISBN 1558620877

Arti­cle from Wikipedia. Images cour­tesy of The Mod­ern Art Museum of Forth Worth Texas and Wiki­me­dia Com­mons.

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