User talk:Krithikha

TADAO ANDO The master architect of Japan

Tadao Ando has been lauded as "that rare architect who combines artistic and intellectual sensitivity in a single individual capable of producing buildings, large and small, that both serve and inspire."

A self-educated architect, Tadao Ando says- “I believe that the way people live can be directed a little by architecture. I would like my architecture to inspire people to use their own resources, to move into the future. Although now we are more and more governed by the American way of thinking, money, the economy... I hope that now people will shift to a more European way (of thinking), culture, individuality, and that people move towards new goals. So for me to be able to contribute to this would be great.”

He believe, “Walls are the most basic elements of architecture, and in all my works, light is an important factor. The primary reason is to create a place for the individual, a zone for oneself within society.”

Ando rejects the rampant consumerism visible within much of today's architecture. He responds both sensitively and critically to the chaotic Japanese urban environment, but maintains a connection to the landscape. Although Ando rejects cultural fads, he uses materials and forms to incorporate the materialism of modern society into his architecture. Accordingly, his concrete and glass buildings reflect, the modern progress underway in both Japan and the world.

In opposition to traditional Japanese architecture, Ando creates spaces of enclosure rather than openness. He uses walls to establish a human zone and to counter the monotony of commercial architecture. On the exterior, the wall deflects the surrounding urban chaos, while on the interior it encloses a private space. Ando developed a radically new architecture characterized by the use of unfinished reinforced concrete structures. Using a geometric simplicity, which reveals a subtlety and richness in spatial articulation, Ando has generated an architecture that shares the serenity and clarity that characterize traditional Japanese architecture.

AWAJI YUMEBUTAI AWAJISHIMA, HYOGO, JAPAN

This ambitious project of Tadao Ando is located on a 215000m2 site, which has been used to obtain landfill for the nearby Kansai international airport. Through its construction this intricate complex of interior and exterior spaces not only serves in reconstructing the landscape that had been destroyed but also, through the idea of rebirth and reconstruction, serves as a memorial to the thousands who had lost their lives and the destruction of land in the massive earthquake that shook the Kobe region in 1995.

‘Yumebutai’ meaning ‘a stage for dreams’ is a mixed use complex that includes a hotel and a conference center. It also consists of a chapel, restaurants, terracing flower gardens, water gardens, and plazas. Its most striking feature is the succession of fountains and internal courtyards. The theme: The basic concept for this project is round universes and square universes, which are connected by walkways. Ando has experimented with the natural topography that remained after the landfill was obtained and has based it on a series of cascades using visually cascading forms and falling water. The plazas are animated through light and shadow and sounds of running water, a green house, and outdoor theater. It is a manmade construction that integrates itself into and becomes part of the landscape as it overlooks Osaka bay and descends from hillside to sea. The experience: A rich interweaving spatial experience is constructed through a spatial sequence of interior and exterior, light and shadow, running water and still water and a framing of views to the sky, water and vegetation. The physical materials of these spaces, silky smooth concrete, rough stone; seashells, translucent and transparent glass, water and vegetation are punctuated by light, sound and smell. The spaces at first glance look seemingly endless but they also entice the person to keep on moving; each space is different and each moment an experience. One may descend from the hillside through the rigid yet flowing flower gardens that descend towards the bay and move to large and interesting pools of water with inlaid scallop shells. Up and down staircases where for the first time we see light as a separate entity as though it were a piece of sculpture or element of building rather than just a form of energy. Accessed from the hotel is the chapel. Located below ground the chapel is illuminated from a cruciform shaped void in the ceiling. On the exterior its bell tower and cruciform glazing which seems to be floating in a pool of water can only see the chapel. Criticism: It has been said of the Yumebutai that it is space worth nothing and a place where Tadao Ando has tried too hard. But I believe that such spaces are necessary to where one can do nothing but experience space for space sake. This dramatic piece of architectural expression heightens our awareness of space, light, sound and architecture. It is one of the few spaces where these elements are true, unmarred by function and ‘usable space’. The Yumebutai truly deserves to be called ‘ a stage of dreams’.