Tadao ando – le defi

The Pompidou Center is dedicating an important exhibition to Tadao Ando, ??a great figure of contemporary architecture. This retrospective questions the principles of the Japanese architect’s creation, such as his use of smooth concrete, the pre-eminence of simple geometric volumes, the integration of natural elements – such as light or water – into his spatial devices, or even the importance he places on the intensity of the body experience generated by his architecture. Self-taught, Tadao Ando is strongly marked by the discovery of the work of Le Corbusier. After several trips to the United States, Europe and Africa, during which he studied the great masterpieces of architecture, he returned to Japan in 1969 and founded his agency in Osaka. Awarded with several honors, including the prestigious Pritzker Prize in 1995, he is now working on numerous monumental projects, including the new Pinault Foundation museum housed in the former Paris Bourse de Commerce. This monograph gives to see and understand the sober and elegant work of the architect through seventy of his most beautiful projects. This publication is enriched by three portfolios presenting Tadao Ando’s black and white photographs, his pencil drawings and, for the first time, reproducing his travel diaries, sources of inspiration for his first creations.
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