Tadao Ando Quotes

You can't really say what is beautiful about a place, but the image of the place will remain vividly with you.

I believe that architecture is fundamentally a public space where people can gather and communicate, think about the history, think about the lives of human beings, or the world.

In Italy, there are so many significant architectural structures in history such as the Pantheon in Rome, or the Duomo.

At the same time, I would add that the American people have a lot of courage.

All those involved in the construction of an architectural design, from the architect to the builder, have an attachment to the architecture, although it's difficult to quantify the attachment.

My hand is the extension of the thinking process - the creative process.

I hope America can also be the cultural leader of the world, and use this frontier spirit to lead and show others that we need courage to go places where we have not gone before.

I think architecture becomes interesting when it has a double character, that is, when it is as simple as possible but, at the same time as complex as possible

When you look at Japanese traditional architecture, you have to look at Japanese culture and its relationship with nature. You can actually live in a harmonious, close contact with nature - this very unique to Japan.

I want each of you to go through life making the most of your individuality. Like it or not, you will go out into the real world and be treated as an adult. Adults show each other no mercy. If you fail to cultivate within yourself a fight-back mentality, society will end up controlling you.

Japanese architecture is traditionally based on wooden structures that need renovating on a regular basis.

In Architecture there is a part that is the result of Logical Reasoning and a part that is created through the Senses. There is always a point where they Clash. I don't think Architecture can be created without that Collision.

Italy is full of historical buildings. And Europe holds a great history of philosophy from Greece until today. I read all those books and see these buildings, and I think of where I stand when I design my architecture.

The level of detail and craft is something that's inscribed within the original design concept. And so when I begin to draw, I know what kind of detailing I want the building to have.

People tend not to use this word beauty because it's not intellectual - but there has to be an overlap between beauty and intellect.

I don't believe architecture has to speak too much. It should remain silent and let nature in the guise of sunlight and wind

I don't look so closely at women's fashion, but from the 20th century on, people have had the freedom to express themselves and their individualities, and fashion is one of the most fundamental ways in which they do this, men and women are equally able to express themselves.

As long as you have an objective in your mind you are young.

You cannot simply put something new into a place. You have to absorb what you see around you, what exists on the land, and then use that knowledge along with contemporary thinking to interpret what you see.

I want to create a space that moves people. It doesn't matter if it is a house, or a museum, or whatever. So, it is somebody sitting on that lawn, just going around and around and feeling really happy. That is something that I'm striving for.

In all my works, light is an important controlling factor.

If I can create some space that people haven't experienced before and if it stays with them or gives them a dream for the future, that's the kind of structure I seek to create.

Spiritual space is lost in gaining convenience. I saw the need to create a mixture of Japanese spiritual culture and modern western architecture.

In Japan, there is less a culture of preserving old buildings than in Europe.

There are self-made millionaires - their aspiration is first to make money. But the once that goal is achieved, they have to look for something and sometimes they become patrons of art or museums. And that is how the world should go.

The computer offers another kind of creativity. You cannot ignore the creativity that computer technology can bring. But you need to be able to move between those two different worlds.

I believe that the way people live can be directed a little by architecture.

But in Japan, there's nothing like that, since the temple is made of wood. The divine spirit inside the building is eternal, so the enclosure doesn't have to be.

I take the museum space also as sacred in a sense.

When I draw something, the brain and the hands work together.

I would like my architecture to inspire people to use their own resources, to move into the future.

But now, more and more, its society is concerned with economy and finance.

I am interested in things happening around me, and I need to understand what's going on in other artistic sectors like music and literature.

My objective is to design a space that nobody else can come up with while using the material that anyone can use.

Look at London or Paris: they're both filthy. You don't get that in Tokyo. The proud residents look after their city.

I like ruins because what remains is not the total design, but the clarity of thought, the naked structure, the spirit of the thing.

All architecture has a public nature, I believe, so I would like to make a public space.

Working in Tokyo has convinced me that, contrary to what people think, it is actually one of the world's most beautiful cities.