Tadao Ando (安藤忠雄, Andō Tadao, born September 13, 1941 in Osaka, Japan) is a Japanese architect whose approach to architecture was once categorised as Critical Regionalism. Ando has led a storied life, working as a truck driver and boxer prior to settling on the profession of architecture, despite never having taken formal training in the field.
He works primarily in exposed cast-in-place concrete and is renowned for an exemplary craftsmanship which invokes a Japanese sense of materiality, junction and spatial narrative through the pared aesthetics of international modernism.
In 1969, he established the firm Tadao Ando Architects & Associates. In 1995, Ando won the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize medallion; an award generally considered to be the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in Architecture. He donated the $100,000 prize money to the orphans of the 1995 Kobe earthquake.

Buildings and works

Tomishima House, Osaka, Japan, 1973
Uchida House, 1974
Uno House, Kyoto, Japan, 1974
Hiraoka House, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, 1974
Shibata House, Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, 1974
Tatsumi House, Osaka, Japan, 1975
Soseikan-Yamaguchi House, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, 1975
Takahashi House, Ashiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, 1975
Matsumura House, Kobe, Japan, 1975
Row House (Azuma House), Sumiyoshi, Osaka, Japan, 1976
Hirabayashi House, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, 1976
Bansho House, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, 1976
Tezukayama Tower Plaza, Sumiyoshi, Osaka, Japan, 1976
Tezukayama House-Manabe House, Osaka, Japan, 1977
Wall House (Matsumoto House), Ashiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, 1977
Glass Block House (Ishihara House), Osaka, Japan, 1978
Okusu House, Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan, 1978
Glass Block Wall (Horiuchi House), Sumiyoshi, Osaka, Japan, 1979
Katayama Building, Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, 1979
Onishi House, Sumiyoshi, Osaka, Japan, 1979
Matsutani House, Kyoto, Japan, 1979
Ueda House, Okayama Prefecture, Japan, 1979
STEP, Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan, 1980
Matsumoto House, Wakayama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, 1980
Fuku House, Wakayama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, 1980
Bansho House Addition, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, 1981
Koshino House, Ashiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, 1981
Kojima Housing (Sato House), Okayama Prefecture, Japan, 1981
Atelier in Oyodo, Osaka, Japan, 1981
Tea House for Soseikan-Yamaguchi House, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, 1982
Ishii House, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, 1982
Akabane House, Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan, 1982
Kujo Townhouse (Izutsu House), Osaka, Japan, 1982
Rokko Housing One, Rokko, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, 1983 map
BIGI Atelier, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, 1983
Umemiya House, Kobe, Japan, 1983
Kaneko House, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, 1983
Festival, Naha, Okinawa prefecture, Japan, 1984
TIME'S, Kyoto, Japan, 1984
Koshino House Addition, Ashiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, 1984
MELROSE, Meguro, Tokyo, Japan, 1984
Uejo House, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, 1984
Ota House, Okayama Prefecture, Japan, 1984
Moteki House, Kobe, Japan, 1984
Iwasa House, Ashiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, 1984
Hata House, Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, 1984
Atelier Yoshie Inaba, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, 1985
JUN Port Island Building, Kobe, Japan, 1985
Mon-petit-chou, Kyoto, Japan, 1985
Guest House for Hattori House, Osaka, Japan, 1985
Taiyō Cement Headquarters Building, Osaka, Japan, 1986
TS Building, Osaka, Japan, 1986
Chapel on Mount Rokko, Kobe, Japan, 1986
OLD/NEW Rokko, Kobe, Japan, 1986
Kidosaki House, Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan, 1986
Fukuhara Clinic, Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan, 1986
Sasaki House, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, 1986
Main Pavilion for Tennoji Fair, Osaka, Japan, 1987
Karaza Theater, 1987
Ueda House Addition, Okayama Prefecture, Japan, 1987
Church on the Water, Tomamu, Hokkaidō prefecture, Japan, 1988
GALLERIA akka, Osaka, Japan, 1988
Children's Museum, Himeji Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, 1989
Church of the Light, Ibaraki, Osaka prefecture, Japan, 1989 [1] [2] map
COLLEZIONE, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, 1989
Morozoff P&P Studio, Kobe, Japan, 1989
RAIKA Headquarters, Osaka, Japan, 1989
Natsukawa Memorial Hall, Hikone, Shiga Prefecture, Japan, 1989
Yao Clinic, Neyagawa, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, 1989
Matsutani House Addition, Kyoto, Japan, 1990
Ito House, Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan, 1990
Iwasa House Addition, Ashiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, 1990
Garden of Fine Arts, Osaka, Japan, 1990
S Building, Osaka, Japan, 1990
Water Temple, Awaji Island, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, 1991 [3] map
Atelier in Oyodo II, Osaka, Japan, 1991
TIME'S II, Kyoto, Japan, 1991
Museum of Literature, Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, 1991
Sayoh Housing, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, 1991
Minolta Seminar House, Kobe, Japan, 1991
Naoshima Contemporary Art Museum, Naoshima, Kagawa prefecture, Japan, 1995 [4] [5]
Japanese Pavilion for Expo 92, Seville, Spain, 1992
Otemae Art Center, Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, 1992
Forest of Tombs Museum, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, 1992
Rokko Housing Two, Rokko, Kobe, Japan, 1993
Vitra Seminar House, Weil am Rhein, Germany, 1993
Gallery Noda, Kobe, Japan, 1993
YKK Seminar House, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, 1993
Suntory Museum, Osaka, Japan, 1994
MAXRAY Headquarters Building, Osaka, Japan, 1994
Chikatsu-Asuka Historical Museum, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, 1994
Kiyo Bank, Sakai Building, Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, 1994
Garden of Fine Art, Kyoto, Japan, 1994
Museum of wood culture, Kami, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, 1994
Inamori Auditorium, Kagoshima, Japan, 1994
Nariwa Museum, Okayama Prefecture, Japan, 1994
Atelier in Oyodo Annex, Osaka, Japan, 1995
Nagaragawa Convention Center, Gifu, Japan, 1995
Naoshima Contemporary Art Museum Annex, Naoshima, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan, 1995
Meditation Space, UNESCO, Paris, France, 1995
Shanghai Pusan Ferry Terminal, Osaka, Japan, 1996
Museum of Literature II, Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, 1996
Gallery Chiisaime (Sawada House), Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, 1996
Museum of Gojo Culture & Annex, Gojo, Nara Prefecture, Japan, 1997
TOTO Seminar House, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, 1997
Yokogurayama Natural Forest Museum, Kochi Prefecture, Japan, 1997
Harima Kogen Higashi Primary School & Junior High School, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, 1997
Koumi Kogen Museum, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, 1997
Eychaner/Lee House, Chicago, Illinois, 1997
Daikoku Denki Headquarters Building, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, 1998
Daylight Museum, Shiga Prefecture, Japan, 1998
Junichi Watanabe Memorial Hall, Sapporo, Japan, 1998
Asahi Shimbun Okayama Bureau, Okayama, Japan, 1998
Siddhartha Children and Women Hospital, Butwal, Nepal, 1998
Church of the Light Sunday School, Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, 1999
Rokko Housing III, Kobe, Japan, 1999
Shell Museum, Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, 1999
FABRICA (Benetton Communication Research Center), Treviso, Italy, 2000
Awaji-Yumebutai, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, 2000 map
Rockfield Shizuoka Factory, Shizuoka, Japan, 2000
The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, St. Louis, Missouri, 2001 [6]
Komyo-ji (shrine) Saijo, Ehime prefecture, Japan (2001)
Ryotaro Shiba Memorial Museum, Higashiosaka, Osaka prefecture, Japan, 2001
Teatro Armani-Armani World Headquarters, Milan, Italy (2001)
Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, 2002 [7]
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas, 2002 [8]
Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester, UK, 2003
4x4 house, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan, 2003
Chichu Art Museum, Naoshima, Kagawa prefecture, Japan, 2004 [9]
Langen Foundation, Hombroich near Neuss, Germany, 2004 [10]
Morimoto restaurant in the Chelsea Market, his first project in Manhattan, opened January 2006.
Omotesando Hills, Jingumae 4-Chome, Tokyo, Japan, 2006