Tadao Ando, born in 1941, is one of the most renowned contemporary Japanese architects.
Characteristics of his work include large expanses of unadorned architectural concrete walls combined with wooden or stone floors and large windows. Active natural elements, like sun, rain, and wind are a distinctive inclusion to his style. He has designed many notable buildings, including Row House in Sumiyoshi, Osaka, 1976, which gave him the Annual Prize of Architectural Institute of Japan in 1979. He has also designed the Church of the Light in Osaka, 1989, the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, St. Louis, 2001, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, in Texas, 2002 and 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT in Tokyo, 2007. Most recently, he has designed the Punta della Dogana, Venice, 2009 and Shanghai Poly Theater, 2014.
Among the many awards he has received are; Gold Medal of Architecture, Académie d’Architecture (French Academy of Architecture) in 1989, The Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1995, Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects in 2002, Gold Medal of Union Internationale des Architectes in 2005, Commandeur de l‘Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2013 and Grande Ufficiale dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia in 2015.
He was also a visiting professor at Yale, Columbia, UC Barkeley, and Harvard Universities. He received the Japanese Order of Culture in 2010.
Honorary RA
Born: 1941 in Osaka, Japan
Nationality: Japanese
Elected Hon RA: 29 May 2002
Gender: Male
Preferred media: Architecture
2014 Clark Center / The Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, USA
Shanghai Poly Theater, Shanghai, China
2013 ANDO MUSEUM, Naoshima, Kagawa
2010 Stone Sculpture Museum, Bad Münster am Stein, Germany
2009 Punta della Dogana Contemporary Art Centre, Venice, Italy
2008 Fukutake Hall, The University of Tokyo
Tokyu Toyoko-Line Shibuya Station, Shibuya, Tokyo
2007 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT, Akasaka, Tokyo
2006 Omotesando Hills (Omotesando Regeneration Project), Shibuya, Tokyo
Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy
2004 Chichu Art Museum, Naoshima, Kagawa
Langen Foundation/Hombroich, Neuss, Germany
2003 4 x 4 House, Kobe, Hyogo
2002 Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Kobe, Hyogo
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, USA
2001 Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, St. Louis, USA
ARMANI/TEATRO, Milan, Italy
Sayamaike Historical Museum, Osaka-Sayama, Osaka
2000 Awaji-Yumebutai (Awaji Island Project), Awaji, Hyogo
FABRICA (Benetton Communications Research Center), Treviso, Italy
1994 Chikatsu-Asuka Historical Museum, Kanan, Osaka
1992 Benesse House Museum, Benesse House Oval, Naoshima, Kagawa
1989 Church of the Light, Ibaraki, Osaka
1983 Rokko Housing I, II, III Kobe, Hyogo
2005–06 Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2002–03 Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, USA
2001 Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, USA
1999 Galerie Aedes Est, Berlin, Germany
1998 National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea, Seoul
Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK
1994–95 The Basilica Palladiana, Vicenza, Italy
1994 Expo MOPT, Madrid, Spain (Ministerio de Obras Públicas, Transportes y Medio Ambiente)
Fundació « la Caixa », Centre Cultural, Barcelona, Spain
1993 Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
The Royal Institute of British Architects, London, UK
1991 The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
1979 Magyar Epitömuvészek Szövetségének, Budapest, Hungary
Beyond Minimalism the architecture of Tadao Ando
1998
Item RAA/PRE/5/2/304
Beyond Minimalism: the architecture of Tadao Ando
1 Oct 1998 - 1 Nov 1998
File RAA/PRE/1/246
[draft] Photocall, Tadao Ando opens his exhibition
30 Sep 1998
Item RAA/PRE/2/1/346
Beyond Minimalism: The Architecture of Tadao Ando, [draft] general release
29 Sep 1998
Item RAA/PRE/2/1/345