Customer Reviews

Tadao Ando (Big Art) (Big Series Art)

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Another lovely book from Taschen: hardcover, cloth over boards with a sewn binding. Large format, 176 pp, a bit over 3 pounds. Color illustrations throughout, many of them full page, with some b&w elevations and floorplans.

English, French, and Italian side-by-side. Biography. Chronology. 12 page introductory essay.

Ando "is the best known contemporary Japanese architect" and almost all his important buildings are located in Japan. "...this book offers an overview of his career through his built work and current projects. Although influenced by the spirit of figures like Le Corbusier and Kahn, Ando seeks a middle path between the ancient traditions of his country and the future of architecture."

Major works that receive coverage in this book include his Rokko Housing, the Church on the Water. the Church of the Light, an exuberant Japan Pavilion for the Expo '92 in Spain, and the Hyogo Museum of Wood.

Ando is capable of creating spaces both spiritual and formidable and often does so using unassuming materials...rarely has good old concrete assumed such majesty. The cover image of a vault from the Unesco Meditation Space in Paris is a stellar example of this.