Tadao Ando

This comprehensive monograph on Pritzker Prize-winning architect Tadao Ando covers the span of his impressive career, with previously unpublished material and insight into his sources of inspiration.

This in-depth monograph offers insight into Tadao Ando''s sober and elegant architecture through photographs, architectural drawings, and descriptions of eighty of his most significant works. His notable works span the globe: London''s Tate Modern; St. Louis''s Pulitzer Arts Foundation; Osaka''s Church of the Light; Paris''s UNESCO Meditation Space; Venice''s Palazzo Grassi; Abu Dhabi''s Maritime Museum; and exceptional buildings in South Korea, Taiwan, China, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Germany, and throughout the United States. Japanese design principles--from the use of concrete, simple geometric volumes, and the integration of natural elements such as light or water--are essential elements that Ando uses to provoke a physical experience through his architecture.

An interview with the architect accompanies his own writings and critical essays on various aspects of his work. A portfolio of Ando''s black-and-white photographs and colored-pencil drawings from his previously unpublished travel notebooks provide new insight into his sources of inspiration. The book is completed with a biography and a chronology of his works to date, including some unrealized projects.