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=== Tadao Ando was born in Osaka, Japan in 1941. Unlike most contemporary architects, Ando did not receive any formal architectural schooling. Instead, he trained himself by reading and traveling extensively through Africa, Europe, and the United States. In 1970 he established Tadao Ando Architect & Associates. === === His studying was very unusual. "I was never a good student. I always prefered learning things on my own outside of class. When I was about 18, I started to wisit temples, shrines and tea houses in Kyoto and nara; There's a lot of great traditional architecture in the area. I was studying architecture by going to see actual building, and reading books about them." His first interest in architecture was nourished in tadao's 15 by buying a book of Le Corbusier sketches. "I traced the drawings of his early period so many times, that all pages turned black," says Tadao Ando: "in my mind I quite often wonder how Le Corbusier would have thought about this project or that." ===

=== Ando rejects the rampant consumerism visible within much of today's architecture. He responds both sensitively and critically to the chaotic Japanese urban environment, but maintains a connection to the landscape. Although Ando rejects cultural fads, he uses materials and forms to incorporate the materialism of modern society into his architecture. Accordingly, his concrete and glass buildings reflect, the modern progress underway in both Japan and the world. === === In opposition to traditional Japanese architecture, Ando creates spaces of enclosure rather than openness. He uses walls to establish a human zone and to counter the monotony of commercial architecture. On the exterior, the wall deflects the surrounding urban chaos, while on the interior it encloses a private space. === === Ando developed a radically new architecture characterized by the use of unfinished reinforced concrete structures. Using a geometric simplicity which reveals a subtlety and richness in spatial articulation, Ando has generated an architecture that shares the serenity and clarity that characterize traditional Japanese architecture. ===


 * ** Award ** || ** Organization/Location ** || ** Country ** || ** Date ** ||
 * Annual Prize (Row House, Sumiyoshi) || [|Architectural Institute of Japan] || Japan || 1979 ||
 * Cultural Design Prize (Rokko Housing One and Two) || Tokyo || Japan || 1983 ||
 * [|Alvar Aalto Medal] || [|Finnish Association of Architects] || [|Finland] || 1985 ||
 * Gold Medal of Architecture || [|French Academy of Architecture] || France || 1989 ||
 * Carlsberg Architectural Prize (International) || Copenhagen || [|Denmark] || 1992 ||
 * [|Japan Art Academy Prize] || Tokyo || Japan || 1993 ||
 * [|Pritzker Architecture Prize] (International) || Chicago || United States || 1995 ||
 * Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres || Paris || France || 1995 ||
 * Praemium Imperiale First “FRATE SOLE” Award in Architecture || Japan Art Association || Japan || 1996 ||
 * Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres || Paris || France || 1997 ||
 * [|Royal Gold Medal] || [|RIBA] || Great Britain || 1997 ||
 * [|AIA Gold Medal] || [|American Institute of Architects] || United States || 2002 ||
 * [|UIA Gold Medal][|[15]] || [|International Union of Architects] || France || 2005 ||

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