Design 360: People@Tadao Ando

1.07.2008

People@Tadao Ando

The Japanese architect Ando has long been revered at Wallpaper* HQ for his creative use of light and geometric aesthetic. If proof were needed, he is a former nominee in our Design Awards with his exploration of nature and man in the Chichu Art Museum. Hence it seemed only appropriate that we employ Ando’s experimental genius to judge this year’s awards.

Ando’s route into the field of architecture is not what you might expect from one of today’s dominating design forces. He explored unlikely incarnations as a truck driver and boxer before discovering his penchant for architecture. However, after traveling through Africa, Europe and the United States, Ando settled in his native Japan where he began applying his self-taught methods to building designs that have since earned his status as one of the greatest architects of our time.

With no formal training, Ando’s dedication to craftsmanship and signature works in exposed concrete won him the prestigious Pritzker Prize for architecture, as well as scattering the Japanese landscape with his unmistakable designs.

Rejecting the traditional Japanese method of openness, Ando instead creates enclosed spaces whilst employing a creative use of natural light that exist together in splendid contradiction. Inspired by his chaotic Japanese urban environment, his primary impetus is to create spaces where the individual can reflect away from the outside world. From venues of worship such as the Chapel of Contrasts, the Church of the Light in Japan, to Morimoto, the favored eatery of the glitterati in Manhattan’s Meatpacking district, each of his works provides a sense of being at once secluded and connected to nature.

One of Ando’s latest commissions due to open for public viewing later this year is his eagerly anticipated design for the Francois Pinault Foundation for Contemporary Art in Paris: a concrete and glass avant-garde art sanctuary imbued with Ando’s typically empowering and humbling style.