Tadao Ando is a self-taught Japanese architect born in 1941 known for his use of light, concrete, and simple geometric forms. Some of his notable works include the Church of Light built in a tight urban space with minimal windows, the Amuza Housing which depicts traditional Japanese living with an interior courtyard, and the underground Chichu Art Museum on Naoshima island with a series of skylights bringing natural light to the galleries. Ando aims to create architectural order through geometry while connecting buildings to their natural surroundings. He has received the Pritzker Architecture Prize and other honors for his contributions to architecture.

1. TADAO ANDO
THE ARCHITECT OF LIGHT
NIDHI THIGALE
S.Y. B.ARCH.
PUNE.

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
Function: Chapel
 Building is an addition to an
earlier wooden structure

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

8. 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

10. Amuza Housing
 Location: Osaka, Japan
 Area: 65 sq.m
 Year of construction: 1975-1976

11. Amuza Housing
• 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.
• It depicts traditional Japanese life
style connected with light ,air and
rain and other natural elements
Concept

12. Amuza Housing
Plan And Section
• Ground floor- living room,
kitchen separated by a central
courtyard and staircase.
• Upper floor- two bedrooms
joined by a central uncovered
walkway which is the only source
of light.
Material –
• Reinforced cement
concrete used in the house
is presented as the
ornamentation of the
façade.

13. Amuza Housing
View

14. The Chichu Art Museum
Location: Southern portion of the
island of Naoshima, Japan
Year of Construction: 2004
• Limiting the architecture to an
underground structure
• No external design rising out of the
ground

15. The Chichu Art Museum
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 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.

16. The Chichu Art Museum
• ‘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 – 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

17. The Chichu Art Museum
MATERIAL:
 Concrete
 Steel
 Glass
 Wood

18. The Chichu Art Museum
Internal Spaces

19. Church on the Water
Hokkaido (1985-88)

20. RUKKO HOUSING, JAPAN. (1983)

21. The Modern Art Museum (2002)

22. “What I have sought to achieve is a
spatiality that stimulates the human
spirit, awakens the sensitivity and
communicates with the deeper soul.”
– Tadao Ando

23. THANKYOU.