Tadao Ando and Azuma House

Tadao Ando, September 13, 1941, Minato-ku, Osaka, Japan

Tadao Ando was an self taught architect, who has gone far enough with his own accord in Architecture that, it create his own philosophy of architecture which was categorized by Architectural Historian Francesco Dal Co as 'Critical Regionalism'. He worked as a truck driver and a boxer in early life. When he was a second year high School student, he was amazed by Imperial Hotel in Tokyo designed by F.L Wright, which eventually led him to give up boxing and start architecture.

Japanese Religion and Culture have great influence on Tadao Ando, which as it is said to create an 'Haiku' effect to beautify the nothingness in order to represent the uniqueness of 'Simplicity'. His philosophy was 'to change the dwelling is to change the society'. One of his Early work is Azuma house(also known as Row House), in Sumiyoshi, Osaka, Japan.This is the building which brought him success.

Azuma House

Building Name: Azuma House
Year of Construction: 1975-76
Site Area: 57.28 sq meter
Building Area: 34 sq meter
Total Floor Area: 64.72 sq meter
Location: Osaka, Japan
Award: Japan Association of Architecture, 1976

Plan Of Azuma House

Concept:

As Tadao Ando says, 'In its simple spatial composition, in its expression of enclosure, and the way light gives character to daily life's spaces, this house encapsulates my image of Architecture.'

Tadao Ando represents a rectangular concrete box in the dense core of Osaka abundant with wooden houses with less privacy. This building holds three rectangular blocks. He takes out the middle block and replaces it with a 'court-yard', yet ensuing privacy. The most significant thing about this project is the courtyard that connect the two part of the building with a bridge. And this project allows the inhabitants to make a relation with the environment by providing them with the day-light that changes distinctively through the whole day.

Section of Azuma House

 we can certainly get the feeling of day light changing throughout the day and that helps to build a relationship with the environment.

 

However, this is also true this project of Tadao Ando has been criticized too. Some says that the circulation is not easy enough in this house, and the massive concrete walls are certainly something that an environmentalist should try to avoid. And some believe the ventilation is poor except in the courtyard of the house. It is a continuous facade with no aperture which some say definitely one of the flaws of the house as it lessens places for visual relief, and also result in increase of temperature inside the house as the glasses and the concrete have high specific to absorb heat energy.

Nevertheless, Tadao Ando's Azuma house is certainly one of those building which meets highest meets of an individual in the tiniest space possible, and yet it is a beautiful architecture with simplicity in its distinctive feature.