Tadao Ando is a renowned Japanese architect born in 1941 in Osaka. He is self-taught and known for his brutalist concrete structures that feature geometric shapes and play with light and space. The document discusses Ando's early life and education, provides biographical details, and summarizes several of his notable works including the Koshino House, Church of Light, Chichu Art Museum, and Church on the Water. It also examines design concepts and principles frequently employed in Ando's works such as exposed concrete, repetition of forms, and harmonizing buildings with nature through use of light and water elements.

1. AR. TADAO ANDO
By :Hetali Bhatt
1305

2. EARLY LIFE OF AR. TADAO ANDOEARLY LIFE OF AR. TADAO ANDO
• He led an eventful 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.
• Struck by the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Imperial
Hotel on a trip to Tokyo as a second-year high-school
student.
• He attended night classes to learn drawing and took
correspondence courses on interior design.correspondence courses on interior design.
• He visited buildings designed by renowned architects
like Le corbusier, Ludwig Mies Van der rohe, Frank Lloyd
Wright,
• and Louis Kahn before returning to Osaka in 1968 to
establish his own design studio, Tadao Ando Architect
and Associates.

3. BIOGRAPHY
• Tadao Ando was born in
Osaka, Japan, on 13TH
SEPTEMBER 1941.
• The self-educated
architect with roots in
Osaka, he spent time in
nearby Kyoto and Nara,
studying first-hand the
•His studies of both traditional
Japanese and modern
architecture had
• a profound influence on his
work and resulted in a unique
blend of these rich traditions.
• In 1968, Ando establishedstudying first-hand the
great monuments of
traditional Japanese
architecture.
• Between 1962 and
1969 he traveled to the
United States, Europe,
and Africa, learning
about Western
architecture, history,
and techniques.
• In 1968, Ando established
Tadao Ando Architect and
Associates in Osaka.
• He is an honorary fellow in the
architecture academies of six
countries; he has been a visiting
professor at Yale, Columbia, and
Harvard Universities; and in
1997, he became Professor of
Architecture at Tokyo University.

4. • Process of design is not broken down into stages
• He believes that everything has to be done by hands, because he
doesn’t believe in systematization and modernization
• Ando looks at abstract spaces as not abstract spaces by searching on
those spaces for the original form of space
• The way he connects his building with the natural environment
• The form that he gives life to abstract spaces, the transformation of it
• The strong material that he uses and yet give us that soft texture
• The experience that each and everyone has had when ever passing• The experience that each and everyone has had when ever passing
through one of his work
• The stamp that he leaves on each of his work such as concrete, free
flowing kind of places, abstract not abstract, the nature inside out the
place
• The strong philosophy behind every building that
he has produced

5. • “In all my works, light is an important
controlling factor.”
• “I create enclosed spaces mainly by means of
thick concrete walls.”
• “When the external factors of a city’s
environment require the wall to be without
openings, the interior must be especially full
PHILOSOPHY
openings, the interior must be especially full
and satisfying.”
• “I create architectural order on the basis of
geometry squares, circles, triangles and
rectangles.
• I try to use forces in the area where I am
building, to restore the unity between house
and nature (light and wind).”

6. LIGHT
SPACE

7. HUMANITY
NATURE

8. BASIC ELEMENTS OF HIS BUILDING
INTERLOCKING
GEOMETRIC SHAPE
MATERIAL:
EXPOSED CONCRETE
LIGHTS

9. LIST OF HIS WORK
1. CHURCH OF LIGHT
2. CHICHU ART MUSEUM
3. CHURCH ON THE WATER
HOKKAIDO
4. AZUMA HOUSE
5. KOSHINO HOUSE, ASHIYA JAPAN
6. NARIWA MUSEUM OF ART
MUSEUM
6. NARIWA MUSEUM OF ART
MUSEUM
7. ROKKO HOUSING
8. NAOSHIMA CONTEMPORARY ART
MUSEUM, NAOSHIMA, JAPAN
9. INTERNATIONAL LIBRARY OF
CHILDREN'S LITERATURE (2002)
10. NAGARAGAWA CONVENTION
CENTER

10. KOSHINO HOUSE, ASHIYA JAPAN
• Located at the foot of
the rokko mountains, in
ashiya city, east of kobe.
• Completed in two phases
(1980-81and 1983-84).
•The koshino house was
originally made up of
two parallel rectangular
concrete boxes.

11. Location :
ASHIYA JAPAN
SITE LOCATION

12. •Two different-sized concrete
boxes, arranged in parallel to
accommodate existing trees,
are half-buried in the verdant
slope of a national park.
• An underground corridor links
the two boxes, which flank a
courtyard.courtyard.
•It features two parallel
concrete rectangular confines.
The forms are partially buried
into the sloping ground of a
national park and become a
compositional addition to the
landscape.

13. •In the second phase, a fan
shaped
•extension which now contains the
•Atelier was added.
•One unusual feature of this house
•is that the visitor approaches it
•from above, and is fully aware of
•the plan of the house, if not its
•specific function from outside.
•the plan of the house, if not its
•specific function from outside.
•The design element requires
•extreme austerity
•* Additional curve
•Renovated in the year
•1983.

14. Ground Floor Plan
1. Atelier
2. Living room
3. Bed rooms
Identical rooms, is
aligned
Like le corbusier’s
monastic
Cells at sainte-
marie-de-la-
Tourette.
•The volume
closer to six

15. First Floor Plan
1. Study
2. Bedroom
3. Terrace

16. •Brutalism/ Brutal architecture
•Asymmetrical Balance
•Non separated
•Alignment
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGNS USED IN THE
KOSHINO HOUSE
•Alignment
•Scale & Proportion
•Unity. Harmony
•Pattern-Repetition
•Hierarchy
•Blending

17. BRUTALISM ARCHITECTURE
It is a movement in architecture
that flourished from the 1950s to
the mid-1970s, descending from
the modernist architectural
movement of the early 20th
century.
A term used by Le Corbusier toA term used by Le Corbusier to
describe his choice of material.
Tadao Ando who is highly
inspired from Le Corbusier uses
this kind of architecture in a lot
of his buildings.
It is raw and without
ornamentation

18. ASYMMETRICAL BALANCE
•Not symmetrical , with the parts
•not arranged correspondingly
identical on both sides of the
central axis.
•It creates a sense of equilibrium•It creates a sense of equilibrium
•by the arrangement of two sets of
forms of different size and shape.
•In this case the middle staircase
acts like the line of symmetry and
both sides have asymmetrical
balance.

19. NON SEPARATED
•When one structure gives
an illusion of being
separated yet being
connected.
•The structure here is
separated along the axis in
the exterior while
connected underground inconnected underground in
the interior.
•This gives an illusion of
•separation and yet is
•connected.

20. The relationship of one part or the whole to an outside measure, such as the
human body.
Variation of scale. INTIMATE, IMPRESSIVELY and MONUMENTAL.
This is an intimate scale.
The living room and dinning room have a double story height which is
balanced by the small area given to the living and dinning area.
SCALE AND PROPORTION
balanced by the small area given to the living and dinning area.

21. A oneness and absence of
diversity ; a combination or
arrangements and the
ordering of all the elements in
a work that each contributes
to the total aesthetic effect.
This is seen in the interior of
UNITY, HARMONY
This is seen in the interior of
the building.
With similar materials and
same esthetic value and
openings.

22. The repetitive elements in design.
The ordered arrangement of parts into a pattern may occur at various
scales at different
distances.
This is seen in the interior, the rectangular structure have a sense of repetition
room alignment with a pattern of the window opening in one rectangle also
shows pattern
PATTERN REPETITION
shows pattern

23. A special importance or significance placed upon or imparted to
something; a sharpness
or vividness of outline.
Emphasis requires that one idea or design themes be dominant, and
is important in
achieving unity in design
HIERARCHY

26. SECTION
OF THE
3D VIEW
OF THE
SITE

28. CHURCH OF THE LIGHT, 1999.
LOCATION: Ibaraki, Osaka, Japan
CONTEXT:
 Tightly-packed residential
neighborhood
 Very small space
Location influences form Location influences form
 L-shaped wall separates church from
busy surrounding.
 No good views, so the windows are
minimal – only the distinctive narrow
cross window and a window opening
into the L-shaped wall

29. LOCATION
• Located in a hidden corner, in
a quiet residential suburb in
Ibaraki, Osaka,
• this small complex comprises
two modest buildings,
arranged at an angle,
oriented according to theoriented according to the
urban pattern of the
neighbourhood.
• The site consists of three
buildings – The minister’s
house , The Sunday school
and The Main chapel ( the
church of light)

30. SITE PLAN
The size of its site is only
:
838.6 square meters
the size of the building
SUNDAY SCHOOL
MINISTER HOUSE
The church of light
ROAD INTERSECTION
the size of the building
itself is only :
113.3 square meters
which is roughly the size
of a small house.
MINISTER HOUSE

31. ABOUT..
• By really placing emphasis on the wall and its
significance of the individual really contrasts
and disagree with many ideas of modernity
in architecture since the 1920’s .
• To Ando the concrete walls plays into his
ideas the architecture should confront
nature .

32. CONCEPT
• The awareness of the spiritual and secular
within themselves . The Church of light is
an architecture of duality the dual nature
of co existence solid /void/dark, stark /
serene .
• The co existing difference leave the church
void of any , and all, ornament creating a
pure , unadorned space . The intersectionpure , unadorned space . The intersection
of light and solid raises the occupant.
• The concrete construction is a
reinforcement of Ando’s principle focus on
simplicity and minimalistic aesthetic .
• Ando’s decision to place the cross on the
east façade allows for light to pour into the
space throughout the space and into the
day , which has a dematerialising effect on
the interior concrete walls transforming the
dark volume into a illuminated box.

33. DESIGN
• Based on very simple elements like rectangular
boxes and intersecting planes, Ando modelled the
churches using light and space.
• The main church, is a 6 x 6 x 18 m box, laterally
crossed by a wall rotated 15 degrees from the main
axis of the nave.
• This diagonal wall also contains a 1.60 x 5.35 m
glass sliding screen and the gateway to the room,
PLAN AND SECTION
glass sliding screen and the gateway to the room,
as in a traditional Japanese shoji.
• Behind the altar there is a cross-shaped opening,
bathing the interior space with the power and
energy of light.
CROSS
WALL AND SITTING AREA

34. ORIENTATION
• The main chapel is orientated towards the
south east direction.
• This is done so that the morning rays of
the sun enter directly into the chapel.
• The access to the compound was made
intentionally indirect, unlike many
churches in the West.
Main chapel
• Visitors are forced to enter the complex
at the northeast corner through a side
street via a forecourt that leads to a
corner of the church near the minister's
house, arriving to an area located in the
back of the church.
• From there one enters to a tiny little
square, which houses a circular bench.
Through This space organizes the accesses
to the main church and adjacent chapel.
Sunday school

35. DIRECTION OF LIGHT
15 Degree
Shift
Sun
(SOURCE
OF LIGHT )
Cross

36. FLOOR PLAN

38. CONSTRUCTION
• The Church of the
Light consists of
three 5.9m
concrete cubes
(5.9m wide x
17.7m long x 5.9m
Front wall which has the
cross
Side walls
17.7m long x 5.9m
high).
• Penetrated by a
wall angled at 15°,
dividing the cube
into the chapel
and the entrance
area.
The Penetrating wall

39. MATERIALS USED
• The building, constructed in
concrete, has given up any
ornament in favour of the
spirituality that gives light,
enhancing its sacredness
• Planks and other parts of the
Reused wooden
planks
• Planks and other parts of the
scaffolding used during
building construction were re-
utilized as the floor and
benches inside the church,
finished with a black oil stain,
harmonizing with the austere
and minimal character of the
place.
Concrete : the main
material of construction

40. USER BEHAVIOUR
• User behaviour in the
church of light is mainly
stimulated by the building
itself .
• The building may look small
but at every curve the user
may see a totally changed
The single wall controls the circulation and shows
a totally different view as the user enters thereby
controlling the user behaviour
may see a totally changed
view of the building.
• For eg. The circulation space
in the church of light is
totally controlled by the
angled wall

41. LIGHTING INSIDE THE CHURCH

43. AMUZA HOUSING
• Location: Osaka,
Japan
• Area: 65 sq.m
• Year of
construction:
1975-1976

44. CONCEPT
• His approach was to connect the art of
building with art of living.
• He relates the form and compositional
methods to the kind of life that that will be
lived in the given space and regional society.
• It is a narrow rectangular concrete block with
living spaces surrounding the courtyard.living spaces surrounding the courtyard.
• It depicts traditional Japanese life style
connected with light ,air and rain and other
natural elements

45. PLAN AND SECTION
• Ground floor- living
room, kitchen separated
by a central courtyard
and staircase.
Kitchen Courtyard Living room EntryKitchen Courtyard Living room Entry
Upper floor- two
bedrooms joined by a
central uncovered
walkway which is the
only source of light.
Bedroom BedroomUncoverd walkway

47. THE CHICHU ART MUSEUM
Location: Southern portion of
the island of Naoshima, Japan
Year of Construction: 2004
• Limiting the architecture
to an undergroundto an underground
structure
• No external design rising
out of the ground

48. CONCEPT
• Why underground? The site is a place
where national forest abounds and was a
former salt field. Hence to preserve the
existing atmosphere and beauty of the site
the museum is wisely buried underground.
• It is possible to create almost any form
underground as there are no axes or
directions as exist above ground, on earthdirections as exist above ground, on earth
• The outer expression of an underground
building is invisible and, therefore, the
obvious issues of form were not an issue.
• Challenge was to achieve a highly complex
and varied sequence of “lightscapes”
within a configuration of simple,
geometrical forms.
• The museum was intended, holistically, to
be visited with light as a guide.

49. • ‘Chichu’ means ‘underground’
• Part of the Front lobby and access
way are dark, but the ain exhibition
space brings in natural light
creatively throught the courtyards.
• a series of small concrete openings
and geometric skylights float among
the greenery.
• There are five galleries altogether ,
of various sizes and characters
featuring the works of three artists –featuring the works of three artists –
Claude Monet , Walter de Mari and
James Turrell.
• The triangular space connects the
galleries of the three artists.
• Inside the museum the visitors are
constantly brought between light
and darkness, between mass and
void

50. MATERIAL:
• Concrete
• Steel
• Glass
• Wood

51. INTERNAL SPACES

52. CHURCH ON THE WATER
HOKKAIDO (1985-88)
Location: Tomamu, Yusutsu County,
Hokkaido,
Japan
Covered in snow from December to April,Covered in snow from December to April,
the area becomes a beautiful white
expanse of land. Water has been diverted
from a nearby river, and a man-mane
pond 90x45 meters has been created.
The depth of the pond was carefully set so
that the surface of the water would be
subtlu affected by the wind, and even a
slight breeze would cause ripples."
Tadao Ando

53. ARCHITECT: Tadao Ando
COMMITTEE: local government
LOCATION: Tomamu, Hokkaido, Japan
PROJECT: 09.1985-04.1988
COMPLETION: 04.1988-09.1988
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER:
DETAILS
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER:
Ascoral Engineering Associates
BUILDING COMPANY: Obayashi
Corporation Co.
STRUCTURE: Reinforced concrete
BUILT AREA: 344.9 sqm
TOTAL AREA: 520 sqm

54. •The chapel is placed on a mountain plateau
central Hokkaido, the coldest region in Japan,
where nature is wild.
•The entire area, is green from spring to summer,
and in winter strips turned into a white expanse.
•In plan, the chapel is formed by the overlapping
of two squares, one small and one large, and
overlooks a pond made by diverting a stream
that flows through the
PlanDESCRIPTION
that flows through the
vicinity.
•A wall independent, L-shaped around the rear
of the building and on one side of the pond.
Section

55. • The chapel is entered from the back and along the
path approaching the wall.
• The murmur of the water takes visitors
along the way, without, however, that they see the
lake.
• After a hundred and eighty degree turn, go up a
gently sloping path to reach an area of access to
the Chapel is closed on four sides by glass, a kind of
container of light.
• Traveled to scale curve that leads to the chapel, the
visitor finds the view of the lake through the glass
wall in front of the altar you can see the expanse of
water and a large cross. North Elevation

56. Study sketches
Inside View

57. Inside View
Special sessions
WAITING ROOM
Bathrooms
Chapel
Special sessions
Detail of the scale,
Black granite floor
Bathrooms
Chapel
GROUND FLOOR PLAN
CHAPEL
BATHROOMS

58. Particular
coverPlant cover

59. Sezione longitudinale A-A

60. NARIWA MUSEUM OF ART MUSEUM
Years of construction:
1992-1994
Location : okayama , japan
• A museum dedicated to• A museum dedicated to
impressionist painter
Torajima Kojima.

61. SITE ANALYSIS (NARIWA MUSEUM)
site
Located from Google map
museum

62. NARIWA MUSEUM
OF ART MUSEUM
okayama , japan

63. CONCEPT BEHIND NARIWA MUSEUM
• This work again using reinforced
concrete to neutralize the importance of
the building and to give elevate the natural
landscape.
•The approach is a bit of a
labyrinth(maze), that encourages visitorslabyrinth(maze), that encourages visitors
to notice the attractiveness of the mountain
landscape.
•an artificial pond being the link that
provides continuity and fluidity to this
design.

64. BOLD INTERLOCKING PURE GEOMETRY

65. PLAN OF NARIWA MUSEUM OF ART MUSEUM

67. ENTRY
• Barrier like façade at entry
no openings
• No direct entry to interior
• Access to the museum is
via an entrance ramp that
leads visitors on a path
upward and away from the
street and over an artificial
pond created in the
mountainside.

68. OPENINGS
WALL WINDOW
• Through the large openings, the
interior of the space can
commune with the landscape

69. SEMI OUTDOOR
SPACES

70. SPATIAL RELATIONSHIP
•A spatial relation, specifies how
some object is located in space in
relation to some reference object.
When the reference object is much
bigger than the object to locate,
the latter is often represented by a
point.point.
•RELATION BETWEEN INDOOR AND
OUTDOOR SPACE

71. WATER-COURT
• A water-court is an above-
defined courtyard filled with
water instead of dry ground.
• In nariwa museum courtyard is
partially enclosed by a natural
slope, by the surrounding
landscape close-by and bylandscape close-by and by
artificial pond along side surfaces
of concrete walls.

72. SCALE AND PROPORTION
Scale: Monumental
Proportion: Structural
and Manufactured

73. MATERIALS
• Using reinforced
concrete,
• the edifice feels made
from
• an authentic material.an authentic material.
• has shown that the use of
concrete allows multiple
• formal and structural
• variants.

74. RUKKO HOUSING, JAPAN.
(1983)

75. The Modern Art
Museum (2002)