Words matter. These are the best Tadao Ando Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
In the West there has always been the attempt to try make the religious building, whether it’s a Medieval or Renaissance church, an eternal object for the celebration of God. The material chosen, such as stone, brick, or concrete, is meant to eternally preserve what is inside.
I think of the past and the future as well as the present to determine where I am, and I move on while thinking of these things.
Japanese traditional architecture is created based on these conditions. This is the reason you have a very high degree of connection between the outside and inside in architecture.
When I draw something, the brain and the hands work together.
If I can create some space that people haven’t experienced before and if it stays with them or gives them a dream for the future, that’s the kind of structure I seek to create.
There is a role and function for beauty in our time.
I am interested in things happening around me, and I need to understand what’s going on in other artistic sectors like music and literature.
When you look at Japanese traditional architecture, you have to look at Japanese culture and its relationship with nature. You can actually live in a harmonious, close contact with nature – this very unique to Japan.
Italy is full of historical buildings. And Europe holds a great history of philosophy from Greece until today. I read all those books and see these buildings, and I think of where I stand when I design my architecture.
You cannot simply put something new into a place. You have to absorb what you see around you, what exists on the land, and then use that knowledge along with contemporary thinking to interpret what you see.
I hope that America as a whole, and especially its architects, will become more seriously involved in producing a new architectural culture that would bring the nation to the apex – where it has stood before – and lead the world.
Japanese architecture is traditionally based on wooden structures that need renovating on a regular basis.
I would like my architecture to inspire people to use their own resources, to move into the future.
I believe that architecture is fundamentally a public space where people can gather and communicate, think about the history, think about the lives of human beings, or the world.
The computer offers another kind of creativity. You cannot ignore the creativity that computer technology can bring. But you need to be able to move between those two different worlds.
The speed of change makes you wonder what will become of architecture.
At the same time, I would add that the American people have a lot of courage.
All those involved in the construction of an architectural design, from the architect to the builder, have an attachment to the architecture, although it’s difficult to quantify the attachment.
My hand is the extension of the thinking process – the creative process.
Working in Tokyo has convinced me that, contrary to what people think, it is actually one of the world’s most beautiful cities.
In Italy, there are so many significant architectural structures in history such as the Pantheon in Rome, or the Duomo.
People tend not to use this word beauty because it’s not intellectual – but there has to be an overlap between beauty and intellect.
When I design buildings, I think of the overall composition, much as the parts of a body would fit together. On top of that, I think about how people will approach the building and experience that space.
Since I am a Japanese man who’s been building through the experience of Japanese architecture, my actual designs come from Japanese architectural concepts, although they’re based on Western methods and materials.
Look at London or Paris: they’re both filthy. You don’t get that in Tokyo. The proud residents look after their city.
The level of detail and craft is something that’s inscribed within the original design concept. And so when I begin to draw, I know what kind of detailing I want the building to have.
In Japan, there is less a culture of preserving old buildings than in Europe.
I believe that the way people live can be directed a little by architecture.
You can’t really say what is beautiful about a place, but the image of the place will remain vividly with you.
If there is only one culture all over the world, that’s not a good thing.
