Azuma House

Joanna Lo

Takasumi Inoue

1941 born in Osaka, September 13 as a brother of twins

1966 travelled America Europe Africa and Asia for 4 years using the fund he earns by interior design and
furniture
1969 established Tadao Ando architectural laboratory
1976 the work Azuma House was rated highly. He had won the prize of Japan architect society as the first
person to achieve it with small scale house but not public architecture.
1987 Yale University guest professor
1988 Columbia University guest professor
1989 Harvard University guest professor
1990s increase pubic architecture, art museum, and the whole of Japan and oversea
1991 One-man exhibition in The museum of Modern Art, New York
1993 One-man exhibition in Pompidou Centre
1997 take office as a professor in University of Tokyo
2000 establish Setouchi olive foundation
2002 University of Southern California guest professor
2003 retired University of Tokyo and become Professors emeritus
2005 Achieve eternal name in University of Tokyo
2008 Become Osaka prefecture politic adviser

Architect : Tadao Ando

Location : Osaka, Japan
Date
: 1976
Building :Type row house, small house
Construction System: Concrete
Climate : Semitropical
Context : Dense urban
Style
: Modern
Details
Site area: 57 sq meters
Building area: 34 sq meters
Total floor area: 65 sq meters
Term of planning: 1/1975-8/1975
Term of construction: 10/1975-2/1976
Site area: 57.28 sq. meters
Total floor area: 64.72 sq. meters

Site Plan

Site Context: Azuma House with its surrounding

- A simple block building which is inserted in a narrow street of row houses.

- Immediately noticeable because of its blank concrete faade punctuated only by a doorway.
- Barely noticed as a house designed by a world famous architect.

In all my works, light is an important controlling factor,

says Ando.

The use of light and space

to create a spiritual feeling
and connection with nature is
Andos architectural signature.
Original Sketches

Interplay between light and dark.

Tone drawings

Light and Shadow Drawings

Three equally sized rectangular volumes:

Two enclosed volumes of interior spaces separated by an open courtyard.

A bridge spans the courtyard and joins with a side

staircase that descends to the courtyard.
The courtyard completely open to the sky above.

Windowless facades.
To allow natural light penetrates is only through the
courtyard.
No interaction with the surroundings.

Courtyard becomes an integral part of the houses circulation

system.
It is entirely wrapped up with concrete, no greenery.

Ando says, I do not believe architecture should speak too much. It should
remain silent and let nature in the guise of sunlight and wind speak.

Simplicity

Introducing nature elements light, wind, rain water

Experience nature without distractions of city.
Introduce natural phenomena that are being forgotten in the city.

Bringing lifestyle out of chaos

Enclosing geometric walls of thick concrete.
Create private barrier between the urban street and
interior living space.

His designs generally incorporate minimal

ornamentation on the walls of the building.
Minimal composition of boxes creates the
front facade.

Ando writes, At times walls manifest a power that borders on the

violent. They have the power to divide space, transfigure place,
and create new domains. Walls are the most basic elements of
architecture, but they can also be the most enriching.

Materiality
Andos staple materials: concrete
Reinforced concrete defines spaces in unique new ways that
allow constantly changing patterns of light and wind.

Powerful concrete walls with light and nature to

create a deep sense of peace.

Tactility
The light and shadows conditions on the faade
interpreted the concrete wall seems to be soft.

From a functional viewpoint, the courtyard forces the inhabitant to endure the occasional
hardships.
At the same time, the open courtyard is capable of becoming the houses vital organ, introducing
the everyday life and assimilating precious stimuli such as changes in nature.

With the exception of the kitchen/dining/bath grouping, one must

go outside to pass between rooms even during the winter and rainy
seasons.
If one had to go to the bathroom at night, one had to go outside
through the courtyard.
Ando acknowledged, as his critics pointed out, that this was
inconvenient.

In the courtyard, nature presents a different presents a different

aspect of itself each day.

The courtyard is the nucleus of life that unfolds within the

house.

Ando considers Azuma House to be the point of origin for his subsequent work.
His approach to connect the art of building to the art of living became his goal.
In the case of Azuma House, the life to be lived was that of busy urban dweller whose
opportunities to experience nature were few, but each of his subsequent designs have met the
same challenge.