Tadao Ando: Body and Space

Architecture is an art that expresses the world through geometry. However, the world is not expressed as an isotropic, homogeneous space. It is articulated (structured, clearly understood and expressed) not abstractly or homogeneously, but as specific spaces (topoi), each of which is related to the entirety of history, culture, climate, topography, and the city. "Place" is not the absolute space of Newtonian physics, a universal space, but a meaning-oriented space of varying density—these properties arise from the relationship of space to what I call "shintai." (Shintai is usually translated as "body," but in my usage, I deliberately leave an unclear distinction between mind and body. By this term, I mean the unity of spirit and the physical body. The term acknowledges both the world and simultaneously the "self.")
Human beings articulate the world through their bodies. Because they have an asymmetrical physical structure with a top and a bottom, a left and a right, a direction forward and backward, the articulated world naturally becomes a heterogeneous place. The world expressed by architecture is, in fact, a world articulated by the work of the human mind.
A person is not a dualistic being, within which body and spirit are distinct from each other, but a living, bodily entity, active in the world. "Here and now," where the individual finds themselves, forms their starting point, and as a result, the notion of direction, "there," arises. Through the perception of the distance between the two, or better yet, through the experience of this distance, the surrounding space appears as something endowed with various meanings and values. The world, accessible to human senses, and the state of the human body are mutually dependent in this way. The world articulated by the body is a lively, vital space.
The body articulates the world. At the same time, however, the body is articulated by the world. When the "I" perceives concrete as something cold and hard, the "I" recognizes the body as something warm and soft. In this way, the body, in its dynamic relationships with the world, becomes "shintai." It is only "shintai" in this sense that constructs architecture or understands architecture. "Shintai" is a perceiving and conscious being that responds to the world. When a person stands in an empty place, they may sometimes hear the voice of the land calling for a building. The old anthropomorphic idea of "genius loci" is actually an acknowledgment of this phenomenon. The catch is that what this voice says is understandable only to "shintai." (By "understandability," I certainly do not mean just understanding through thought. Architecture must also be comprehended through the senses, through one's own "shintai.")
To perceive an object in all its diversity, the distance between "I" and the object must somehow change. This change occurs through the movement of "shintai." The experience of space (speciality) results not from a single, absolute direction of view, but from many directions of view from various standpoints taken during the movements of "shintai." Not only the movements of "shintai," but also changes in nature, such as light, wind, or rain can alter (phenomenal, as opposed to physical) distances between "I" and the object. By shaping nature and human movement into simple geometric forms, I have tried to create complex spaces. What was self-sufficient and calm I transformed by adding natural movements or movements of people into dynamics and diversity as the superior plane for the wandering observer's eyes. The order within "shintai" is reconstructed thanks to the recognition of differences between the overall idea of this superior plane inscribed in "shintai" and what we comprehend through perception. What interests me is precisely the way in which each person relates to architecture.
The problem of modern architecture lies in the abstract and homogeneous character of spaces. Such spaces and "shintai" simply do not fit together. Architecture has order due to abstract geometry and thus gains autonomous existence. However, this order is fundamentally different from the ordinary, everyday order. Architecture, even when materially expressed, is a medium that can also take into account factors that do not have tangible form—such as climate and history—those give forms of architecture their order.
Today's world of architects considers a functionalist approach, and various conflicting approaches to architecture complicate the matter even further. Prominent among these approaches is postmodernism, which has decided to interpret Modernism, the greatest legacy of 20th-century architects, from just one perspective and stubbornly rejects it. However, we gain nothing if we start to indulge in ornaments simply because Modernism rejected them. If Modernism has anything in it that is inhumane, then it lies in its fundamental ideas about architecture and not in the forms of its architecture. The problem must be addressed through the expressive character of architecture, and the solution further lies in the individual who perceives it. At the same time, it is necessary to satisfy the need for rationality and functionality. Exclusive national character and sensitivity of each individual are suppressed, and everything becomes homogeneous. Cultural factors that make architecture possible, such as history and tradition and even natural conditions, all become transformed into abstractions, and simplicity (i.e., uniformity) and mediocrity are by-products of the pursuit of economic rationality and are dominant qualities of our time. I am not interested in the interest of shapes and forms but in their spatial solution. I strive to create diversity of intentions and emotions through simple geometric forms and to include also intangible factors. My ultimate goal is not expression, but the creation of symbolic spaces based on the material and substantial.
I have dealt with architecture in the past as someone whose sensitivity has been shaped by an unique culture and history, and I hope to remain such a person in my efforts in this field in the future. I hope to continue to oppose the expansion of homogenization in the world. How to do this will surely be indicated to me by "shintai".