Tadao Ando is a self-taught Japanese architect born in 1941 who is inspired by Le Corbusier and known for his use of light, concrete, and geometry. He has received numerous awards including the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Ando believes light is an important factor and uses thick concrete walls with minimal openings to create enclosed spaces. His Church of the Light in Osaka is contained within a long, rectilinear concrete box divided by an angled wall, using light and proportion to define the simple spiritual space within tight constraints. Ando aims to stimulate the human spirit with architecture that communicates through simple materials and balance of concrete and nature.

1. TADAO ANDO
THE ARCHITECT OF LIGHT
PARSHWA SHAH
DIPL.ARCH.
BARDOLI.

2. Tadao Ando
 Born in Osaka, Japan in 1941.
 Is a self-taught architect.
 Is inspired by the works of Le Corbusier and also considers Mies van der
Rohe, Alvar Aalto, Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Kahn
 "I traced the drawings of his early period so many times, that all pages
turned black”
Awards :
 The Pritzker Architecture Prize.
 the gold medal of the French Academy.
 plus numerous other medals and honorary fellow designations from
Finland, the United States, and Great Britain.
 He has every art and architecture prize his own country can bestow.
Tadoa Ando

3. Philosophy
 “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 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).”

4. Philosophy
 Style - element of Light, Water, concrete and glass.
 Simplified, rectilinear forms.
 favors designing complex spatial circulation while maintaining the appearance of simplicity.
 Bare concrete walls that define the spaces within.
 Interior of the building are the form itself, ridicules the idea of masking it.

5. Church of the Light, 1999.
LOCATION: Ibaraki, Osaka, Japan
CONTEXT:
 Tightly-packed residential neighborhood
 Very small space
 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

6. Church of the Light
 Entrance is from the
back.
 Must turn 180
degrees to face the
front of the
building

7. Church of the Light: Form
Form: Long, rectilinear plan
 “The building can be described simply as a bare concrete box with a wall cutting through it at
a 15 degree angle. “
 Proportion: 1:3 – rectangle can hold 3 spheres, each 5.9 meters in diameter

9. Light is the origin of all being. Light gives with each moment new
form to being and new interrelationship to things and architecture
condenses light to its most concise being. The creation of space in
architecture is simply the condensation and purification of the
power of light.
“I do not believe architecture should speak too much.
It should remain silent and let nature in the guise of
sunlight and wind speak”
Creates spaces that respond to human needs and
spirit juxtaposing powerful concrete walls with light
and nature, deep sense of peace, simple materials
and geometry.

10.  “What I have sought to achieve is a speciality that
stimulates the human spirit, awakens the sensitivity
and communicates with the deeper soul.”
– Tadao Ando
 “I hoped this project would raise an issue against
the current tendency. I tried to see to what extent
an affluent space could be created with the
minimum budget in an era flooded with goods and
materials.”