Atelier in Oyodo II

Tadao Ando builds around the world, yet he remains faithful to his hometown. Just as his studio remains committed to a single location within this two and a half million Japanese metropolis. In 1972, Ando's office designed a house for a family of four in downtown Osaka. The small three-story building stood on a narrow lot of 47 m² adjacent to a pre-war wooden tenement house. Ten years later, Tadao Ando purchased this house and established his office within it. He expanded the original design to the neighboring lot and also raised it higher. Another ten years later, Ando's office grew into the form we know today—a seven-story building with an atrium spanning the full height and stepped floors. Similar to the first design from 1972, life here unfolds around the atrium covered by a skylight, allowing only the necessary light to penetrate (Ando places greater emphasis on the quality of light than its quantity). Occasionally, the atrium transforms into a lecture room—lectures are given from the stair tower, and the stepped floors serve as a podium for listeners. Nearby stands a three-story concrete block that also serves the needs of Ando's office. It has no windows facing the street and turns towards an inner garden enclosed by a high wall.

When asked what keeps him in Osaka and the Kansai region, Ando replied: “I was born here and spent the first twenty years of my life. The time I spent here was very stimulating and the most amazing of my entire life. The local people enabled me to create when I established my architectural office. Many bold individuals supported my ambitious plans with energy and shared my dreams. The Kansai environment made me what I am now.”