Major Assignment- Inspirational Architect

Architect: Tadao Ando, 1995 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize

photo source: http://www.pritzkerprize.com/ppg7.htm

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Short bio and philosophy:
Ando is a Japanese architect based in Osaka. He is entirely self- taught and had no study under a master architect. He developed his understanding of architecture through extensive reading and site visits to actual buildings in study trips to Europe and the United States, during which he kept detailed sketch books.

Ando describes the goal of his architecture- "to endow space with meaning by using the natural elements and varied aspects of everyday life. The forms I've designed have acquired meaning from their relationship to the elements of nature: light and air, indications of the passing of time and the changes in the seasons."

Quote from A. Zabalbeascoa, J.R. Marcos, Tadao Ando : architecture and spirit = arquitectura y espíritu, Gustavo Gili, Barcelona, 1998, p.56.

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Building material: in-situ concrete
His primary building material is in-situ concrete which he has refined to an art form. His concrete has been described as 'smooth as silk', a quality which owes much to the high level of carpentry available in Japan to construct wooden form work in projects. The outcome of bolts holding the form work together, Ando's concrete typically has evenly spaced holes in the surface.

Part of my research will require me to read up on the techniques used to build in-situ concrete the way Ando prefers.

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Examples of work:

Tadao Ando, UNESCO Meditation Space, 'Pavilion exterior view', Paris, Completed 1995

Tadao Ando, UNESCO Meditation Space, 'view of pavilion roof and the overhead skylights from inside the building', Paris, Completed 1995

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Tadao Ando, Church of Light, 'interior view', Ibaraki, Osaka, Japan, Completed 1989

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Tadao Ando, Chapel on Mount Rokko, 'view from inside the temple of the entrance area', Nada, Kobe, Japan, Completed 1986

Tadao Ando, Chapel on Mount Rokko, 'the entrance gallery', Nada, Kobe, Japan, Completed 1986

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Tadao Ando, Vicariate of Rome, 'interior view of church', Rome, Completed 1996

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Tadao Ando, Town House in Hirano, 'Entrance', Hirano, Osaka, Japan, Completed 1996

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Tadao Ando, Naoshima Museum of Contemporary Art Annex, 'Interior illumination of the museum', Completed 1995

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Bibliography:
Zabalbeascoa, A, Marcos, J.R, Tadao Ando : architecture and spirit = arquitectura y espíritu, Gustavo Gili, Barcelona, 1998. All example images were photocopied from this book.

The Pritzker Architecture Prize, 'Tadao Ando Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate 1995', The Hyatt Foundation, retrieved 7 May 2008, <http://www.pritzkerprize.com/ppg7.htm>.