he was the first born of twin boys.
from ages 10 to 17 ando spent his time mostly making wood models
of ships, airplanes, and moulds, learning the craft from a carpenter
whose shop was across the street from his home.
1962-1969, by his early twenties, ando had decided on a self-directed
course of architectural study that took him throughout japan to visit
temples, shrines, and tea houses, to europe, africa and to the united
states. he was studying architecture by going to see actual buildings,
and reading books about works of architects such as le corbusier,
ludwig mies van der rohe, alvar aalto, frank lloyd wright, and louis kahn
before returning to osaka at the age of 28 to open his own studio,
tadao ando architect & associates.
tadao ando has been a visiting professor at tokyo university, yale,
harvard, and columbia.-designboom
