Tadao Ando
Tadao Ando is an inspirational man. Despite being a self-taught architect, he went on to win the prestigious Pritzker Prize for architecture and is now one of the most highly regarded architects in the world. Based in Osaka, Japan, Ando is famous for the unique way he works with concrete, his treatment of natural light and the way he works with the elements in the natural world.
Tadao Ando has worked on over 200 buildings and collaborated with artists and designers such as Issey Miyake and Damien Hurst. He has also worked on installations including 'Silence', a water feature in London where clouds of mist swirl from the base of two trees every 15 minutes. Perhaps his most iconic building however, is the Church of Light in Ibaraki, Japan. A minimalist box like structure with spaces for the light to enter in the shape of a cross. Ando placed the cross on the east façade allowing light to seep into the space from the moment the sun rises. The Church of light is an unadorned space, the architecture and the way it uses dark and light create the beauty and tranquility of the space and not the objects in it. What starts as a minimalist box is illuminated with light, a metaphor for spirituality.
