5/4/2019 architectural interviews: The Spirit of Modernism, Tadao Ando interview with Architectural Record about the craft,

he craft, beauty and the cultu… 5/4/2019 architectural interviews: The Spirit of Modernism, Tadao Ando interview with Architectural Record about the craft, beauty and the cultu…

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Last month Architectural Record visited Tadao Ando, Hon. FAIA, in audio interview
his office in Osaka, Japan, and talked with him about the nature of
architecture and creativity, and his view of architecture within a
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changing global landscape.
select by media (interviewer)
Architectural Record: How do you approach the problem of creating
architecture?
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Tadao Ando: You cannot simply put something new into a place. You About Me
monographs have to absorb what you see around you, what exists on the land,
theories and then use that knowledge along with contemporary thinking to simulacra
videos interpret what you see. it is not actually "me", it is
interviews
actually "we". we are a
AR: What do you respond to from your own tradition that has some couple married to each
meaning for you and your work at this point in your life? other and dedicated to
supports
architecture. have chosen
TA: When you look at Japanese traditional architecture, you have to the word "simulacra" (the
look at Japanese culture and its relationship with nature. You can term coined by
actually live in a harmonious, close contact with nature—this very Baudrillard)as the contents
unique to Japan. Japanese traditional architecture is created based of these blogs are
on these conditions. This is the reason you have a very high degree simulation of knowledge yet
of connection between the outside and inside in architecture. everybody related to
architecture knows how far
AR: You have taken the Modernist idiom for your architecture and fledged that claim is! its truly
made it your own. How do you see this language evolving? a hyperreal world, we are
nothing but copies of each
TA: The logic of Modernism, you could say, is born from other.
functionalism as we know it, but that’s only the beginning of what View my complete profile
Modernism is all about. Modernist architecture also has to deal with
people. And people always relate to the spirit of the place, or to the
spirit of the time. Without this spirit, Modernist architecture cannot
fully exist. Since there is often a mismatch between the logic and the Subscribe To

spirit of Modernism, I use architecture to reconcile the two.

Posts
architect/artist: Tadao Ando
interviews of architects/offices
interview title: The Spirit of Modernism AR: There are several themes in your work that are striking. For Comments
interviews compilation no: T-26 example, you conceive of space as a dark, heavy, and powerful void.
Select architect/office Followers
interview format: text
date: May, 2002 TA: If you give people nothingness, they can ponder what can be
interviews of others related to
appeared in: Architectural Record architecture achieved from that nothingness.
interviewer: Robert Ivy back to top back to top
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AR: Yet another theme in your work is the element of surprise. You Followers (5)

take a path, which makes a turn, and you discover something else. AR: What about the role of craft in your work?

Follow
TA: When I design buildings, I think of the overall composition, much TA: The level of detail and craft is something that’s inscribed within
as the parts of a body would fit together. On top of that, I think about the original design concept. And so when I begin to draw, I know
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how people will approach the building and experience that space. what kind of detailing I want the building to have.
December (60)

AR: You are constantly drawing. How has the computer modified AR: What do you see as the role of architecture in the world?
your design process?
TA: We have to realize that the "age of discovery" has brought with it
TA: When I draw something, the brain and the hands work together. a disruption of the environment. Now architects are facing the "age
My hand is the extension of the thinking process—the creative of responsibility." When you design and build something, you have to
process. The computer offers another kind of creativity. You cannot consider what you are taking away from the earth or the environment
ignore the creativity that computer technology can bring. But you in order to make something new. At the same time, I would add that
need to be able to move between those two different worlds. the American people have a lot of courage. This is embedded within
the American spirit, the "frontier spirit." You always want to try to
AR: It’s not fashionable to talk about beauty, but in looking at your make something new, and, of course, America is the world leader in
buildings, I think about it. What is the role of beauty in your work? economics today. I hope America can also be the cultural leader of
the world, and use this frontier spirit to lead and show others that we
TA: There is a role and function for beauty in our time. In Japan it need courage to go places where we have not gone before.
may be translated into the concept of Uskuji, which also means a
beautiful life, that is, how a person lives––his or her inner life. It’s If you look at the 1950s, you will notice that the modern world’s most
something beyond appearance, or what only meets the eye. You representative architecture was created in the United States at that
can’t really say what is beautiful about a place, but the image of the time—such as the Seagram Building. And even before that, with the
place will remain vividly with you. People tend not to use this word Chrysler Building and Rockefeller Center, you can see that American
beauty because it’s not intellectual—but there has to be an overlap society was interested in creating a culture of the future. But now,
between beauty and intellect. more and more, its society is concerned with economy and finance. I
hope that America as a whole, and especially its architects, will
AR: You purposefully introduce intuitive, internal, or illogical become more seriously involved in producing a new architectural
elements into your work. These are very human attributes. Is this a culture that would bring the nation to the apex—where it has stood
way of understanding and connecting to people? before—and lead the world.

TA: You’re absolutely right. It’s a way of relating the work to people.

AR: How does your architecture come to terms with the immense Posted by simulacra at 9:40 PM
speed of change going on in the world now? For example, you Labels: architectural record, Tadao Ando

designed the Komyo-ji Temple in Saijo, Ehime, out of wood, which

suggests impermanence. It seems like the Ise Shrine in Nara, which 0 comments:
is rebuilt every 20 years.

Post a Comment
TA: The speed of change makes you wonder what will become of
architecture. In the West there has always been the attempt to try
make the religious building, whether it’s a Medieval or Renaissance Enter your comment...
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. But in Japan, there’s nothing like that, since
the temple is made of wood. The divine spirit inside the building is Comment as: alexfergushit@ Sign out

eternal, so the enclosure doesn’t have to be. Japanese architecture,

therefore, allows you the freedom to express this concept. It’s a Publish Preview Notify me
mistake to adhere to the stylistic development of religious
architecture of the past and try to imitate it. back to top back to top
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