Works of Tadao Ando on Naoshima Island

I went to Naoshima Island with my wife to see many contemporary art exhibits. It was our purpose. Nonetheless, it was an unexpected trip to see many works designed by Tadao Ando. Needless to say, he is one of the most popular designers of architecture on a global level. And to talk about the development of contemporary art on Naoshima, it isn’t enough not to refer to the strong wish of Tadao for not only contemporary art but also the revival of Naoshima Island.


To say honestly, I didn’t like some works of Tadao, nor did I pay much attention to his works. I felt that his works were too individual and strong. However now, I think that his philosophy of architecture has a value for young people who hope to do their best in the 21st Century. Thus, the change in my opinion of the Tadao’s works shall be of use as a reference to anybody who likes or dislikes Tadao Ando.

The works of Tadao on Naoshima Island

The Benesse House Museum is the first work designed by Tadao on Naoshima Island. The exterior and the interior of the house, which were designed by simple geometric forms, triangle, square and circle and made of concrete, iron, stones and glass, are very simple. Therefore, the design is strong and artificial but brusque. Hence, I wondered if it was comfortable to rest in as a hotel.

Next, I saw The Ando Tadao Museum at Honmachi. It was constructed in an old wooden house in Honmachi. It has a normal exterior of a normal old wooden house in a rural area except the designed logo of The Ando Tadao Museum. Nonetheless, the interior has a very different aspect of a wooden house. All the rooms are made of thick concrete blocks and a thick flat concrete block which cut the room space diagonally making a thin light from a long and narrow hole into the room. I felt that the house had a synergistic relationship between wooden material and thick concrete. The house is an exhibit rather than a house.

The Southern Temple, Minami-dera in Japanese, is a house which was constructed in order to exhibit the installation of contemporary art by James Turrel. The house is made of only burnt cedar wood-board. It is wide but has a low height and it has no windows. It is brusque and stoic. The stoic essence of the house is suitable for the works of James.

The Chichu Museum was built under ground. Nonetheless, in the museum there is nothing which makes people feel like they are under ground. The ceilings are high and visitors are always surrounded by thick brusque concrete blocks and they can catch light from the holes on the surface of the ground, so then people feel that they are in an unrealistic world like a pantheon. The interior of the museum is brusque but complex, and impressive and unrealistic. Thus, it is suitable for the three strong works by three renowned artists. In addition, the contemporary art and the architecture make a wonderful synergetic relationship.




About the performance of Tadao


Tadao Ando is a famous designer of architecture not only in Japan but also in the world. But yet I sometimes feel an uncomfortable feeling in his works.


He has designed many private dwellings in Japan which have been constructed from brusque concrete blocks. Those are impressive but uncomfortable. The reason for the uncomfortable feeling is the tight seal by concrete, it isn’t suitable in Japan which has humid air.

He constructed The Memorial Museum of Ryotaro Shiba, who was popular as a historical story writer and respected as one of our national novelists. Tadao got attention with the countless number of books Ryotaro had and designed the museum to exhibit the books. However many visitors to the museum have wished to be immersed in a world where heroes who were created by Ryotaro play active roles, and they shall be betrayed.


 Tadao Ando may dislike to build a structure along the lines of thought that people make with common sense. Japanese houses should be made from proper material like wood, paper and soil. The museum of Ryotaro should be based on the image of his heroes played actively. Tadao always betrays such a normal image. By any chance, Tadao might have thought that his starting point to design structure has been to deny the comfortable feeling in common sense. What is in the space where common sense is denied? It is not a harmonious space but chaotic. In the chaos Tadao may seek a new essence beyond the common sense. In the place which he made through denial, he seeks a new core essence with his passion and his original method of architecture and the Japanese traditional method of beauty, subtraction like minimalism. In the case of private dwellings it is the passing of time which is generated through a light and a shadow made by narrow slits, wide windows and edged concrete blocks. In the case of the memorial museum of Ryotaro Shiba it is the magnificent exhibition of book shelves which Ryotaro had in order to make stories.

The message from Tadao Ando


We, the Japanese people, have been struggling in the current society. It may be because we love a comfortable life more strongly than necessary according to the thoughts of Tadao’s planning ideas.


Tadao said in a magazine interview as follows;


“Japanese people after the world war II have lived in a flat society with similar thinking, “yoko-narabi” in Japanese. The main ideas in the flat society with similar thinking are standardized wealth, a convenient life and a comfortable life. However, those ideas cause Japanese people not to think with their own minds. As a result, the minds of Japanese people have been shrinking. If you wish to live with a new value on your own path as an independent person, you should often choose a life of suffering or an uncomfortable life among your eagerness.”


To talk about the Tadao’s works, those aren’t comfortable. Nonetheless, those propose strength. It might have been made by his strong wish that he challenged a more valuable structure than ones he had already designed.


The strong mind in his works helped the residents on Naoshima Island to play an active role, and the presences of his works invite a lot of visitors. At least, I think that The Chichu Museum is a great successful work in which Tadao denied common sense as a museum.