tadao ando's sketches and drawings catalogued in upcoming book by taschen

"Taschen's newest release, Tadao Ando. Sketches, Drawings, and Architecture, brings an intimate view of the legendary Japanese architect's creative process across more than five decades of work. Born in Osaka in 1941 and entirely self-taught, Ando founded his practice in 1969 after extended travels across the world. International recognition followed as he won the Pritzker Prize in 1995 and the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1997."

"Taschen's book, Tadao Ando. Sketches, Drawings, and Architecture, tracks the progression of the architect's design method through the tactile act of drawing. Quick pencil lines, dense shading, colored pencil drawings, and technical plans show how ideas first surface as instinctive gestures before becoming the structures that stand today. Readers can follow the development of key projects, especially the Row House in Sumiyoshi, the Rokko Housing complex, and the Chichu Art Museum, and can track how each evolved through layers of hand-rendered detail."

"His own reflections accompany these drawings, illustrating his early travel experiences across Europe, Africa, and Asia, to the architectural decisions that came later. Memories of light in a stone monastery in France or the resonant geometry of an Indian stepwell emerge as formative influences. The book illustrates how these impressions, filtered through memory and craft, inform the quiet drama of concrete and light that defines his buildings."

Over more than five decades, Tadao Ando developed a design method grounded in hand drawing, producing quick pencil sketches, dense shading, colored pencil studies, models, and technical plans. Instinctive gestures surface first on paper and evolve into precise architectural forms, evident in projects like the Row House in Sumiyoshi, Rokko Housing, and the Chichu Art Museum. Early travels across Europe, Africa, and Asia shaped perceptions of light and geometry, including memories of a stone monastery in France and an Indian stepwell. These impressions, combined with craft, produce a restrained drama of concrete and light central to his monumental buildings.

Read at designboom | architecture & design magazine