Tadao Ando on Light, Concrete, and His 10th Naoshima Museum
At 84, architect Tadao Ando remains relentlessly forward-looking, having opened his 10th museum on Naoshima dedicated to Asian art last year. In an interview with CULTURED, the Pritzker Prize winner discusses his upbringing in a traditional Osaka row house, which instilled a lifelong pursuit of 'light within darkness.' He draws parallels between boxing and architecture as struggles against fear. Ando describes his collaboration with artist Lee Ufan on the Lee Ufan Museum as a 'clash of egos' that yielded unexpected spatial tension. He defends concrete against climate criticism, advocating for technological innovation rather than abandonment. Ando's firm, Tadao Ando Architect & Associates, continues to operate with no succession plan in sight.
Key facts
- Tadao Ando is 84 years old.
- He opened his 10th museum on Naoshima dedicated to Asian art in 2025.
- Ando won the Pritzker Prize for Architecture in 1995.
- He designed the Pulitzer Arts Foundation in St. Louis and the Church of Light in Osaka.
- The Church of Light was completed in 1989 on a limited budget.
- Ando grew up in a traditional wooden row house (nagaya) in Osaka.
- He trained as a boxer before becoming an architect.
- Ando collaborated with Lee Ufan on the Lee Ufan Museum on Naoshima.
Entities
Artists
- Tadao Ando
- Lee Ufan
- Kazumi Kurigami
- Josef Albers
- Giovanni Battista Piranesi
- Adrien Brody
Institutions
- Tadao Ando Architect & Associates
- Pritzker Prize for Architecture
- Pulitzer Arts Foundation
- Benesse Art Site Naoshima
- Lee Ufan Museum
- CULTURED
Locations
- Naoshima
- Japan
- Osaka
- St. Louis
- Ahmedabad
- Dunhuang
- Cappadocia