Centre Pompidou Retrospective Explores Tadao Ando's Journey from Boxer to Architect

The Centre Pompidou in Paris is hosting a major retrospective on Tadao Ando, the self-taught Japanese architect who began his career as a professional boxer in 1960s Osaka. The exhibition, titled "Tadao Ando: The Challenge," runs from October 10 to December 31, 2018. It features 50 projects, 180 drawings, and 70 original models organized into four thematic sections: The Basic Form of Space, The Urban Challenge, The Origins of Landscape, and The Dialogue with History. A 256-page catalog will accompany the show, highlighting key works such as Azuma House in Sumiyoshi (1976), Church of Light (1989), and the restoration of the Bourse de Commerce in Paris, which was set to complete in autumn 2019. Ando opened his first studio in Osaka in 1969 after a chance encounter with architecture.