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Silence as material
I travelled to Japan in search of archi-
tecture and found silence. Not an emp-
ty silence, but one full of intention, as
if every wall, every shadow and every
glimmer of light spoke in a language
without words. It is in that language
that the work of Tadao Ando is written,
the self-taught architect who transfor-
med concrete into a spiritual material.
His story begins in Osaka, where he
was born in 1941. Before drawing li-
nes, he was a boxer; before studying
architecture, he travelled. He learned
by observing temples, streets, chur-
ches, deserts. From each place he
took an idea, and from each mistake, a
lesson. Today, his name is inscribed in
history as one of the great masters of
contemporary space, a man who tur-
ned concrete, light and nature into the
three pillars of a new spirituality.
Osaka: faith in light
My journey began in Ibaraki, on the
outskirts of Osaka. There stands the
Church of the Light, probably his most
recognisable work. From the outside,
the building reveals almost nothing: a
grey prism, without ornament, without
concessions. But upon entering, the
dimness is transformed. A cross of
light opens in the front wall, cutting
through the darkness with the preci-
sion of a scalpel.
DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE
The Church of the Light in Ibaraki
There are no images, no colour, no sound. Only that light which pierces
the concrete and turns the space into an experience.
In that moment I understood what Ando seeks: for the building to disa-
ppear and only the emotion of the person within it to remain.
“Architecture should inspire courage to live.” —Tadao Ando
Aerial view of the Water Temple on Awaji Island
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