Decorative arts

Tadao Ando is one of the most celebrated architects of our time. Winner of the Pritzker Prize and numerous other international awards, his bold, concrete buildings and their interplay with light, shadow, and nature have become emblematic symbols of the modern world, blending modernist design with Eastern spirituality from his native Japan. Now, at eighty-five, Ando looks back on a lifetime of making. Born in a working-class family living amongst the ruins of post-war Osaka, he could not afford a university education. After a brief stint as a professional boxer, he taught himself architecture at night from books, founded a practice in a cheap rented room, and, after years of uncertainty, persistence, and belief, eventually saw his ‘concrete poetry’ built around the world. ‘Towards Light’ explores the stories behind his greatest buildings and shares wisdom drawn from pivotal moments in Ando’s life.