LANDSCAPE
ANDO’S PLAN
F E AT U R E : TA D A O A N D O
This diagram from the Garden of Fine Arts reveals concealed excavated levels below ground datum
When you were younger, you were involved with
contains a universe within it. In contrast to the people
the avant-garde Gutai Art Society of Japan. What
who made enormous buildings like Todaiji, there were
kind of influence did you take from them?
also those who made very delicate spaces. Though dif-
I had the opportunity to interact with members of the
ferent in size, both kinds of architecture can instill
Gutai group from the late ’50s to ’60s. I was particularly strongly influenced by the group’s leader, Jiro Yoshihara, who said, “Don’t copy other people. Do what cannot be done by others.” Since then, I have always thought about how to take challenges to do what nobody else could do through architecture. I began studying architecture as a teenager and continued to learn by working throughout my 20s and 30s. I also looked at buildings day and night and gained experience through actually experiencing spaces. I was moved most strongly by the enormous ancient structures of Kyoto and Nara, such as the Nandaimon of Todaiji Temple from the Kamakura Period. I was fascinated by the fact that buildings of such great scale were envisioned in that age and by how there were people who had actually constructed them. I was also moved by the Tai-an, a tearoom made by Sen-no-Rikyu that has the area of only two tatami mats. That extremely small space
strong fascination within visitors. The contrasting Japanese aesthetics of the delicate and bold have been engraved deeply within my heart, and it remains to be a source of my creativity even now. Japanese people have a reputation for being delicate and nimble-fingered, but by taking a look at historical buildings, one can appreciate that the Japanese also have had quite bold and daring imaginations. It is important to see beyond such stereotypes. Anybody living within society should doubt the conventions that they follow and consciously work to break them. I believe that if everybody could lead their lives carrying a curiosity for new concepts, society would in turn become more stimulating and interesting. I hope to provide opportunities for people to realize this through the process of creating architecture. Your ideas are sensational, but do your ideas that step outside of the box ever cause conflicts with your clients? Of course, we are not always in agreement. I take time to engage in conversation with the client before developing a project, and sometimes we throw our ideas against one another. For the Row House in Sumiyoshi, I cut out the
47