Tadao Ando, The Colours of Light

Tadao Ando, The Colours of Light is the momentous result of 10 years' collaboration between the established English photographer Richard Pare and Japan's leading architect, Tadao Ando (b.1941).
This book includes 27 of Ando's buildings, completed over the spectrum of the last 15 years. It includes the notable Kidosaki House of 1986 in Tokyo; the Church on the Water of 1988 in Hokkaido; and the Meditation Space for UNESCO of 1995 in Paris. Pare's images break with previous conventions of architectural representation: rather than producing literal portraits, he distils the 'essence' of Ando's buildings, with acute sensitivity to the subtle effects of natural light on architecture.

The eclectic photographic portfolio is complemented by Tom Heneghanan's accessible introductory essay and Ando's own preface. Personal drawings by Ando accompany the detailed description of each project.
The Colours of Light approaches Ando's work from an entirely different angle to most monographs about the architect. This unique volume explores the atmosphere and life of his spaces through their shade and light: a technique which Ando himself has applauded.

Richard Pare is Consulting Curator of Photography for the Canadian Center for Architecture and has exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art and the Max Protetch Gallery in New York.

Tom Heneghan was educated at the Architectural Association in London, where he taught from 1979. In 1990, he was invited by Arata Isozaki to participate in the 'Kumamoto Art Polis' programme in Japan. He is Professor at Kogakuin University in Tokyo.

'Exquisitely photographed by Richard Pare, the details of Mr Ando's houses, office buildings, meditation spaces and churches haunt the retina.' (The New York Times)

'An outstanding presentation of arguably the most significant body of work of the last 20 years.' (Architects' Journal)

'This beguiling and vivacious book allows you to tune into Ando's work right away. In this book, every page raises your level of consciousness and I cannot say how much pleasure it gave.' (Architectural Review)

'This book is a superb example of a monograph that is more than simply a catalog of buildings. Richard Pare's photographs beautifully capture the abstraction, the sublime simplicity, the materiality, and the quality of time (lines) in Ando's work. The jury found this book simply irrestible.' (Jury of the American Institute of Architects)