Tadao Ando

Tadao Ando

26 quotes

Architect and wordsmith — Tadao Ando (b. 1941) is a Japanese voice whose observations cut across disciplines. Their thinking spans from Architecture to Design, revealing a mind that refused to stay in one lane. Discover 33 of Tadao Ando's most memorable quotes, ranging across Architecture, Design, Future, Beauty, and Hope. A favorite of many readers: "If you give people nothingness, they can ponder what can be achieved from that nothingness."

“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.”

— Tadao Ando

Knowledge

All Quotes by Tadao Ando

“There is a role and function for beauty in our time.”

— Tadao Ando

Beauty

“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.”

— Tadao Ando

Architecture

“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.”

— Tadao Ando

Courage

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

— Tadao Ando

Architecture

“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.”

— Tadao Ando

Future

“Japanese traditional architecture is created based on these conditions. This is the reason you have a very high degree of connection between the outside and inside in architecture.”

— Tadao Ando

Architecture

“If you give people nothingness, they can ponder what can be achieved from that nothingness.”

— Tadao Ando

Architecture

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

— Tadao Ando

Finance

“When I design buildings, I think of the overall composition, much as the parts of a body would fit together. On top of that, I think about how people will approach the building and experience that space.”

— Tadao Ando

Design

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

— Tadao Ando

Beauty

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

— Tadao Ando

Courage

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

— Tadao Ando

Architecture

“The speed of change makes you wonder what will become of architecture.”

— Tadao Ando

Architecture

“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.”

— Tadao Ando

Architecture

“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.”

— Tadao Ando

Knowledge

“I think of the past and the future as well as the present to determine where I am, and I move on while thinking of these things.”

— Tadao Ando

Future

“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.”

— Tadao Ando

Architecture

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

— Tadao Ando

Architecture

“Without this spirit, Modernist architecture cannot fully exist. Since there is often a mismatch between the logic and the spirit of Modernism, I use architecture to reconcile the two.”

— Tadao Ando

Architecture

“I hope that America as a whole, and especially its architects, will become more seriously involved in producing a new architectural culture that would bring the nation to the apex - where it has stood before - and lead the world.”

— Tadao Ando

Hope