Seven Interviews with Tadao Ando - Tapa dura

This book accompanies and celebrates the opening of new Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando. The interviews reveal Ando's central belief that architecture is all about creating "exquisite and wonderful memories" which come about when a building allows its occupants to connect with themselves and make their intellectual dreams become possible. This is what gives life to architectural space. But Ando also recognizes that creation of such memories must involve the architect taking risks, particularly with materials and location; in the case of Fort Worth, the building's double skin of concrete volume encased in a glass-skin box is entirely new. These concepts are discussed not only within the specific context of the Fort Worth building, but also within the context of Ando's wider underlying philosophy and beliefs. Michael Auping considers the key influences in Ando's career, particularly his initial experience as a builder, his early travels around his native Japan, the influence of ancient classical buildings such as the Pantheon in Rome, and the work of artists like Brancusi, Henry Moore and Isamu Noguchi. The influence of other architects, such as Le Corbusier, Lloyd Wright, but especially Louis Khan, is also discussed in this context. Finally the interviews consider Ando's use of concrete as a building material both in its historic context and in terms of its relation to his theories on colour, space and depth.

Michael Auping is Chief Curator at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.