Tadao Ando was born in Osaka, Japan. Ando never studied architecture at school and never apprenticed in an established firm. As Ando explains "I was studying architecture by going to see actual buildings and reading about them." During the 1960's he traveled to Europe, the United States, and Africa to experience Western Architecture. By the 1969, Ando had gained enough training to pass his licensing exam and establish his own firm. Despite his unconventional training, Tadao Ando has been awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1995, and was invited to join the faculty of Tokyo University in 1997.

Ando's architecture is characterized by the use of unfinished reinforced concrete structures, simple geometric forms, manipulation of light, and engaging nature.

Peter Eisenman wrote, "Something in his work is shivering, beyond the cool, the rational, the poetic, or the sublime.

Selected works:

Koshino House, Ashlya, Hyogo, Japan 1981
Chapel on Mount Rokko, Nada, Kobe, Japan 1988
Church on the Water, Yufutsu-gun Hokkaido, Japan 1988
Church of the Light, Ibaraki, Osaka, Japan 1989
Water Temple, Tsuna-gun, Hyogo, Japan 1991
Naoshima Contemporary Art Museum & Annex, Naoshima, Kagawa, Japan 1992, 1995
Awaji-Yumebutal (Awaji Island Project), Awajishima, Hyogo, Japan, 2000
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Forth Worth, Texas, U.S.A. 2002

ArBITAT FutureWatch

Tadao Ando continues to build projects around the world, follow their progress at ArBITAT FutureWatch... (go to ArBITAT FutureWatch)