Ando

Taschen Basic Architecture

by Masao Furuyama, Michał Frankowski (Translator)

Philippe Starck describes him as a "mystic in a country which is no longer mystic." Drew Philip calls his buildings "land art" that "struggle to emerge from the earth." He is the only architect to have won the discipline's four most prestigious prizes: the Pritzker, Carlsberg, Praemium Imperiale, and Kyoto Prize. His name is Tadao Ando, and he is one of the world's greatest living architects. Combining influences from Japanese tradition with the best of Modernism, Ando has developed a completely unique building aesthetic that makes use of concrete, wood, water, light, space, and nature in a way that has never been witnessed elsewhere in architecture. This book provides the perfect introduction to Ando's work, including private homes, churches, museums, apartment complexes, and cultural spaces throughout Japan, and in France, Italy, Spain, and the USA.

Genres: Architecture, Art, Nonfiction, Design, Biography, Education

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too short, it was more like an extensive magazine all about the same person then a book.

[Uwe Daßler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Die Bewertung des Buches ist der einzigartigen Architektur von Ando geschuldet.

[d · Rating 4 out of 5]

"God may well be in the details, but in Ando's architecture, memories are in the details. Memory resides in the touch of things."

On memory: Visually, Ando's concrete, sharp-cornered masses do not give the impression of warm tactility or of memory; yet Furiyama repeatedly argues that Ando's entire architectural goal is to create vessels for those memories - and by doing so, "site-crafting" a space while imbuing it with history. He defends (or perhaps I see it as) that Ando's architecture is about framing present views and being deferent to the landscape, such as the Chichu Art Museum being buried in order to not interfere with the landscape views, or the 4x4 House's response to spatial constraint. There is a braveness in the simplicity as it highlights the geometric and symbolic boldness of his gestures. I believe this works very well for his public spaces. Man, if there's one thing he does well, it's a sacred space (see: Church of Light, Church on the Water, and my favorite, the Water Temple Hompuku-ji). For all of Furiyama's enthusiasm, though, I remain unconvinced on the residential forefront. I am not opposed to being convinced, but I think the restrained but self-aware theatricality of the boldness as mentioned earlier lends itself to larger scales.

On memory, personal: Ando lead an insanely fascinating life and I am grateful for Furuyama's adoring writing because I too would be fawning, in awe of the fullness of life Ando lived. He grew up with a twin, raised by his grandmother, in a terrible traditional house that was to spite him into pursuing a career in architecture. He pursued a self-led education beyond the classroom, so much so that he quit school. He was not bound by convention but it didn't feel like he was actively defying them - he just wanted to live a life he wanted to live. Pursued a boxing career, discovered architecture, decided to be an architect, and decided to educate himself by traveling the world for 4 years, the memories and experiences of which informed his architectural practice for the rest of his life. One wishes they had his decisive, unbothered nature and strength of will.

"When the sky breaks into song, an entire building sings."

On nature and his spatial vocabulary: I appreciate how Ando was able to a definitive spatial vocabulary for himself which he implemented with grace, mostly, in his work. I appreciate even more how rooted they are in being reflections of nature: sky, light, sun, water, dramatic responses to landscape, and a freestanding element. The simplicity of his geometry truly creates a canvas for these elements, though I do not always agree that the canvas should be so blank.

"Love is a function of absence."

On void: The grand geometry of Ando's spaces demands he work as much with the voids as much as he does with the tangible separations. He also discusses how this void also becomes the space for memory, and I'm not sure if that is why I saved this quote, but it spun and has remained spinning in my head.

"Progression: clear geometry, complex circulation plan, rich spatial experience."
"(walls that) allow life, latitude, and gentleness"

Overall: If I were to apply anything I learned from this book it is the clarity of concept and vocabulary and the metaphorical resonance he achieved in some of his work. Personally, I would also like to be so set with who I am but not in a close-minded way, just in a confident way, that I unashamedly live the recluse-buried-in-books ideal that he embodied.

Book rec from here: The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

[Eryani N. Yulita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tadao Ando has been one very interesting architect whose building designs I adore. His approach to simplicity and multi-functional space is addicted to follow and this book is simply a biography who tells a story about Ando, his life journey until he became a famous architect, with a more detail explanation about his finding and understanding about space and how it affected his way of designing.

There are several books already telling about Ando, but this book focuses more on his background story and how it affects his was of designing, with a tidy layout that is easy to read and follow.

[Hardus Scheepers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet.

[Romeo Ciotec · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading this book, more like a longer magazine

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

An architect driven to improve his grandmothers housing in Japan , a cool story

[Biscuits]

i like the pretty pictures

[guess_Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read book for all the admirers of Tadao Ando .
It is more than a simple description of Andos work , it is a wonderful spiritual journey in Andos mind and in his philosophical concept , and how this concept has developed in his work . It is a consideration of Ando as a social person and as a individual one ,and his concernment toward modern social values .
He starts designing the "architecture of negation " and shift into the "architecture of negation of negation " ,and still he remains pure in forms , boldless in material, and his walls remains screens of ones consciousness. As Masao says " no architect can completely resist the temptation to mold and design." but Ando "by reducing architecture to simple geometric form, produced architecture of powerful visual impact. " .
I enjoyed very much this book ,and there are plenty of illustrations too ;)

[Elnaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first Taschen Basic Architecture volume about a living architect. The earlier Taschen volumes have been about the Modernist masters such as Mies, Le Corbusier, Loos, Wright, Kahn and Neutra. If there is any living architect who can measure up to this Pantheon of Greats, it is Pritzker Prize winner, Tadao Ando.

Like the other volumes in this series, there is a short biographical essay, followed by short chapters that focus on key works. The German Publishing Company Taschen publishes some of the best architectural books.

[Jose · Rating 5 out of 5]

these is one of those books that are so well writen, that you just cant stop reading it, very well described and great for learning.

Tadao Ando for me is one of the best architects of the XX century, the way he gives you a sence of spirituality through hes designs, also the way he manages to give an otherwise small space, a big and spacious filling.

[tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favorite Architect - Great Book

[Bart · Rating 4 out of 5]

A small and concise book about a very interesting talent. It made a wonderful companion for a recent visit to The Modern in Fort Worth, Tex.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice introduction, with lots of photographs, but Taschen really need to revise this edition (2006) to include Ando's more recent work (Sri Lanka House, etc).

[Nadinedebussy]

(beginning to read in 2007)