TADAO ANDO

Is a Japanese self-taught
Architect, born on September
13, 1942 in Minato-ku, Osaka,
Japan, whose approach to
architecture and landscape was
categorized by architectural
historian Francisco Dal Co as
"critical regionalism". MASTER
OF ARCHITECTURE

PRITZKER
PRIZE WINNER 1995
BIOGRAPHY
 ANDO TO ANDO IS A ANDO STARTED HIS
WATANABE HIROSHI MEDIOCRE STUDENT CAREER AS A
(JAPAN QUARTERLY BUILDER NOT AN
1993) rather than pursuing ARCHITECT
an education, Ando
His grandmother followed in the Using a list of the
"wasn't very strict with footsteps of his books architecture
regard to school…. But brother to become a students were
she was strict about professional boxer at assigned to read in
me keeping my word." the age of 17. four years, he trained
himself within one
year.
HIS YOUNGER YEARS HAD NO
TRACE OF GREAT PROMISE:
HE WORKED BRIEFLY A
PROFESSIONAL BOXER AND A
LORRY DRIVER, BEFORE AGED
24 BOARDING A SIBERIAN
TRAIN TO EUROPE "TO SEE
THE WORLD."

Great buildings caught his eye, in

particular, the works of Le Corbusier --
the Swiss-French Purist whose concrete
designs later inspired Ando's own. The
Japanese architect famously named his
pet dog Corbusier.
DESIGN CONCEPT
 ZEN
Tadao Ando enables people to
relate to his emotional design
situation that reflects the Zen
state of mind inherent in
traditional Japanese culture,
which is characterized as being
quiet, distant, clear, and poetic.

In order to
practice the
idea of
simplicity
Ando's architecture is
mostly constructed
with concrete,
providing a sense of
cleanliness and
weightlessness
"Simplicity"
The simplicity of his
architecture emphasizes the
concept of sensation and
physical experiences, mainly
influenced by the Japanese
culture.
TADAO ANDO'S BREAKTHROUGH (1976)

1975-1976
Sumiyoshi, Osaka, Japan
 "In its simple but rich
spatial composition, in
its expression of
enclosure, and in the
way light gives
character to daily-life
spaces, this house
encapsulates an image
of my architecture."
— Tadao Ando. Tadao
Ando, Buildings Projects
Writings. New York:
Rizzoli, 1984. p26.
A very small house in a
narrow slot site, with
rooms at front and back
connected by open-air
bridge through courtyard.
 Its flat and robust
concrete façade is a major
contrast to the
surrounding buildings
where the Azuma House is
located, which at that
time, were traditional
wooden Japanese style
houses.
The Azuma House is
symmetrical in its overall
design with a centralized
courtyard wedged in
between two blocks of
spaces, both split into two
floors.
 The purpose of the
courtyard is mainly used
for ventilation and lighting,
but it is also used to
exposed the occupants to
nature as much as
possible.
 AZUMA
HOUSE
"In its simple but rich spatial
composition, in its expression of
enclosure, and in the way light gives
character to daily-life spaces, this house
encapsulates an image of my
architecture."
— Tadao Ando. Tadao Ando, Buildings
Projects Writings. New York: Rizzoli,
1984. p26.

A very small house in a narrow slot site,

with rooms at front and back connected
by open-air bridge through courtyard.
ō ō

ō ū
ū ō

ū ō