Tadao Ando retrospective to open at the Centre Pompidou in Paris
The Centre Pompidou opens a major retrospective of Japanese architect Tadao Ando on 10 October, unpacking and celebrating the core elements of his practice from his use of concrete and geometric volumes to the integration of nature, light and water into his designs.
Born in Osaka in 1941, Ando is well-known to be self-taught, travelling the world to understand architecture across cultures as part of this learning. He set up his practice Tadao Ando and Associates in 1969.
Since then, he has completed over 300 projects across his 50-year career, picking up the Pritzker prize in 1995. The exhibition traverses periods of his production from his first house project in 1976, the Azuma House in Sumiyoshi, to his work on Naoshima island that commenced in 1988 and continues today, the Church of Light in 1989 and his upcoming La Bourse de Commerce in Pari, scheduled to complete in autumn 2019.
Fifty projects will be presented in detail within the exhibition alongside 180 drawings, including travel notebooks, personal photographs taken by Ando and 70 original models, allowing visitors to experience the process, inspiration and completed results of Ando’s architectural journey together.
One part of the exhibition includes an installation surrounding Ando’s work at Naoshima, and his dialogue with the natural landscape. Working with the natural topography and creatively modelling the land, Ando buried a museum of modern art into the hillside, sculpting and merging his architecture with the rocks and the horizon beyond. Ando is working on two further museums for the island, that has now become a beloved monument and a site of pilgrimage to architects.
The thematic pathway of the exhibition through five sections looks to communicate Ando’s experience, interest and ethics of design, uniting projects by common ground and values such as surface, shape, nature and spirituality.
INFORMATION
‘Tadao Ando, the Challenge’ is on view from 10 October to 31 December. For more information, visitor the Centre Pompidou website and the Tadao Ando website
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Harriet Thorpe is a writer, journalist and editor covering architecture, design and culture, with particular interest in sustainability, 20th-century architecture and community. After studying History of Art at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and Journalism at City University in London, she developed her interest in architecture working at Wallpaper* magazine and today contributes to Wallpaper*, The World of Interiors and Icon magazine, amongst other titles. She is author of The Sustainable City (2022, Hoxton Mini Press), a book about sustainable architecture in London, and the Modern Cambridge Map (2023, Blue Crow Media), a map of 20th-century architecture in Cambridge, the city where she grew up.
-
Molly Goddard on creating a community of contemporary brides
As new Molly Goddard bridal wear is released, the designer talks about creating romantic but real wedding dresses, while three recent brides tell the stories behind their own Goddard gowns
By Jack Moss Published
-
Palazzo Roma embodies the heritage of Roman noblesse
Palazzo Roma, part of the Shedir Collection, boasts eclectic and eccentric interiors by Giampiero Panepinto
By Luke Abrahams Published
-
Boise Passive House’s bold gestures support an environmentally friendly design
Boise Passive House by Haas Architecture combines sleek, contemporary design and environmental efficiency
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Dip into the Paris pools and swimming culture enriching the 2024 Olympic Games
Paris pools, in the Olympics and beyond, have inspired fun, wellness and a love of sports in the French capital
By Ellen Himelfarb Published
-
Jean Prouvé’s House of Better Days on show at Galerie Patrick Seguin in Paris
The Maison Les Jours Meilleurs, or House of Better Days, by Jean Prouvé is explored in a new show at Galerie Patrick Seguin in Paris
By Harriet Thorpe Published
-
Hauser & Wirth Paris by Laplace is a winning restoration in the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2024
Hauser & Wirth Paris by Laplace sees the architectural agency named Best Restoration Kings, breathing new life into an 1877 hôtel particulier near the Champs-Elysées
By Amy Serafin Published
-
A fire station cuts a bold figure in the city of Rennes
This fire station by LAN becomes a new landmark for Rennes, France
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
A refreshed Musée National de la Marine shows off its expanded exhibition spaces in France
Musée National de la Marine in France has been brought to the 21st century by a team comprising h2o Architectes, Snøhetta and exhibition designers Casson Mann
By Clare Dowdy Published
-
Studio Mumbai exhibition at Fondation Cartier explores craft, architecture and ‘making space’
A Studio Mumbai exhibition at Paris’ Fondation Cartier explores the trailblazing Indian practice’s inspired, hands-on approach
By Amy Serafin Published
-
AT Architectes has built a striking house in the heart of a French pine forest
Maison Au Tholonet by AT Architectes is a crisp concrete house set on a wooded site in the South of France, carefully built on the foundations of a ruin
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Richard Rogers exhibition delves into the architect’s ideas at Chateau La Coste
A new Richard Rogers exhibition created by Ab Rogers opens at the late architect’s final design, the Drawing Gallery at Chateau La Coste in France
By Ellie Stathaki Published