Architecture & Advertising Day No. 2

It is my second day of writing my Blog --- 建筑十日谈, which actually means "To Talk about Architecture Topics in Ten Days" in English. I would like to start this time with an interesting articles about a Japanese-born, self-educated Architect --- Tadao Ando and two of his master pieces, namely, the Church of Light and the Church of Water.

Church of Light (Ibaraki Kasugaoka Kyokai Church),
Architect: Tadao Ando (1941 - Today)

Located in a quiet residential neighborhood in the suburbs of Osaka, the small Christian church made of silky smooth concrete sits modestly within its environment. The communal church consists of two rectangular volumes that are both cut at a 15 degree angles by freestanding concrete walls. One indirectly enters the church by slipping between the two volumes, one that contains the Sunday school and the other that contains the worship hall.

The space of the chapel is defined by light, by the strong contrast between light and shadow. In the chapel light enters from behind the altar, from a cruciform cut in the concrete wall that extends vertically from floor to ceiling and horizontally from wall to wall, aligning perfectly with the joints in the concrete. From this cruciform shape an abstract and universal light seems to be floating on the concrete wall, its rays extending and receding over time with the movement of the sun. Light is also permitted to seep into the interior from the slicing of the volume by the freestanding concrete wall. The darkness of the chapel is further accentuated by the dark and rough-textured wood of the floor planks and the pews which are built out of reused wood used during construction as scaffolding.

In contrast to the darkness of the chapel the interior of the Sunday school is built of lighter colored wood with a smooth surface. The volume of the Sunday school opens up to a double height space with a mezzanine level that contains a small kitchen, bench and table which are used for congregation gatherings.

The volume containing the Sunday school also has light that penetrates the space through the slicing of the volume by the freestanding concrete wall. The space comes alive not only with ever changing light but also through the voices of children singing, sounds of the piano, adults enjoying a meal of soba noodles after Sunday worship and laughter.

"In all my works, light is an important controlling factor," says Tadao Ando. "I create enclosed spaces mainly by means of thick concrete walls. The primary reason is to create a place for the individual, a zone for oneself within society. When the external factors of a city's environment require the wall to be without openings, the interior must be especially full and satisfying."

And further on the subject of walls, Ando writes, "At times walls manifest a power that borders on the violent. They have the power to divide space, transfigure place, and create new domains. Walls are the most basic elements of architecture, but they can also be the most enriching."

Ando continues, "Such things as light and wind only have meaning when they are introduced inside a house in a form cut off from the outside world. I create architectural order on the basis of geometry squares, circles, triangles and rectangles. I try to use forces in the area where I am building, to restore the unity between house and nature (light and wind) that was lost in the process of modernizing Japanese houses during the rapid growth of the fifties and sixties."








Church of the Water in Hokkaido (1980)
Architect: Tadao Ando (1941 - Today)

The Architect and his works

A self-trained architect, Tadao Ando was born in Osaka, Japan, in 1941. He studied traditional Japanese architecture and traveled to the United States, Europe, and Africa studying Western architecture and techniques, and founded Tadao Ando Architect & Associates in Osaka in 1969. Combining modern Western architecture and the simple geometric forms of traditional Japanese architecture, Ando has designed museums, religious structures, and residential and commercial buildings in Germany, Spain, Italy, and France as well as his native Japan. Ando is the recipient of the 1995 Pritzker Architecture Prize and the 2002 American Institute of Architects Gold Medal, and this June was named recipient of the Kyoto Prize for lifetime achievement in the arts and philosophy.

"I do not believe architecture should speak too much. It should remain slient and let nature in the guise of sunlight and wind speak."

Links to related Websites:

http://www.pritzkerprize.com/ppg7.htm
http://www.answers.com/topic/tadao-ando
http://web2.ntit.edu.tw/~s14938024/ando.htm
http://www.voice-of-design.com/vod/7-4/742_am.html
http://caad.arch.ethz.ch/teaching/nds/ws97/script/light/st-light2.html
http://www.arcspace.com/books/ando_works/ando_works_book.html
http://www.arcspace.com/exhibitions/Ando_Ex1/Ando_Exhibition1.htm

Couldn't wait to show you some A.D. Enjoy please!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvgXXazRGHQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVhVkhZK2jk&NR=1