Original bag than one night aesthetic
This year, from the He Art Museum in Shunde to the "Challenge" exhibition in Shanghai, from the Poetry Hall in Heyuan to the "Youth" exhibition in Beijing, Tadao Ando's name has never left China, not left people's vision. The famous architect, who has just turned 80 years old, spanned two centuries, once removed 5 internal organs, and is still moving towards the goal of 100 years old in his old age. It is time for him to have the courage to go on a global touring exhibition that reviews the creative process of his life. Now the fifth stop of the exhibition is Beijing, the exhibition that opened after the 80th birthday with the theme of "youth", looking back and interpreting a purer youth mentality. This exhibition not only features a green apple art installation symbolizing youth, but also two well-known churches, and Naoshima, where Tadao Ando is still cultivating... This is not just an architectural exhibition, but also the life of Tadao Ando.
Tadao Ando Global Touring Exhibition Beijing, China Youth
2021.10.12—2022.1.9
Beijing Minsheng Art Museum
Build three houses in Beijing
1:1 reproduction of the three major spiritual spaces
▲ UNESCO Meditation Space ©️ Wenzhu International Photo: Tian Fangfang
Walking into the gate of the Beijing Minsheng Art Museum, the exhibition venue, the towering clear-water concrete cylinder in the center of the hall on the first floor is difficult to ignore, and I believe that every visitor to the exhibition will be hooked by it for the first time. This is one of three 1:1 restored spiritual spaces, the UNESCO Meditation Space.
▲ UNESCO meditation space © Stephane Couturier
In 1995, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Tadao Ando designed the building. This cylinder, both 6.3 meters in diameter and height, with doors to windows, is perfectly symmetrically distributed in two opposite directions.
▲UNESCO Meditation Space © Tadao Ando Institute of Architecture
The most shocking details require people to walk into the space and look up, and the top of the building uses the gap as a skylight for lighting, tadao Ando said, "I hope to achieve a rich and shocking light and shadow effect with as few design elements as possible." This space has no superfluous elements, transcends all religions and sects, and becomes a true "meditative space".
Now that this silent cylinder has been reproduced on the exhibition site, it is also the first time that everyone can walk in and start a meditation. "How to make the space express a firm and independent will", Tadao Ando left a question when designing, this time we have the opportunity to answer it ourselves.
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©️ Wenzhu International Photo: Tian Fangfang
Like the "UNESCO Meditation Space", which insists on using the fewest design elements to achieve the most shocking light and shadow effects, the well-known "Church of Light", osaka's Church of Light was also reproduced 1:1 to the exhibition site.
© Tadao Ando Institute of Architecture
Le Corbusier proved through the Langxiang Church that chasing light can also create architecture, and Tadao Ando was inspired by this to design the Church of Light to chase the sanctity of light. Compared to the former, the Church of Light is more extreme within a limited budget. Inside the concrete wall were only a few rows of seats, pulpits and huge cross openings in the front wall. The devout pilgrims came to the dark Church of Light and sat down, facing the cross light, and were baptized in light.
Tadao Ando once said, "I hope that the symbolic cross of light can become a spiritual indicator for people who gather in churches for the purpose of prayer." Although it is a very small building in scale, it made me think again that the power of light is enough to affect the human spirit. ”
Affected by the epidemic, it is very difficult to visit the Church of Light in Osaka now, and even if there is no epidemic, it will not be easy. In this replica of the Church of Light, the power of light is still there, still powerful, pack up the state of mind, whether in Osaka or Beijing, the Church of Light is enough to affect your spirit.
▲ Stained glass of Beijing Minsheng Art Museum
Compared with the real Church of Light in Osaka, the exhibition also has a natural gift - the second floor of the Minsheng Art Museum in Beijing has a set of colored glass windows, and the sunlight penetrates them and shines into the crosses of the replica Church of Light, bringing colorful surprises to the church.
Another spiritual space, the Church of Water, is hidden in the depths of the exhibition hall, and the audience who come to the exhibition sit on the benches and quietly listen to the slow sound of the guzheng, this spiritual building has nothing to do with any religious doctrine at the moment, but can still lead everyone present into their own contemplation.
The Water Church in Hokkaido is built on a mountain plain with the theme of "water", and the cross stands in the lake. The surrounding mountain scenery is also part of the Church of water, which is full of greenery in spring and summer, colorful in autumn, and more pure and sacred in winter. This reproduction chose the winter scenery as the background, quiet and solemn.
When designing the Church of Water, Tadao Ando said that in his eyes, architecture is a special device that can achieve harmony and unity with nature, so that people can intuitively feel the rich vitality of nature. It was from the Church of water that he focused on exploring the theme of "the fusion of architecture and nature".
The UNESCO Meditation Space, the Church of Light, and the Church of Water, these three 1:1 replica spiritual spaces are undoubtedly the biggest highlights of the "Tadao Ando Global Tour Exhibition China Beijing Station Youth", and Tadao Ando himself said that "1:1 architectural models are actually rare, very few".
He imagined that people who came to the exhibition "when they see one building after another, they may think, ah, this is the feeling of 'Church of Light', this building is such an idea..." Receiving the information of these displays, internalizing them into their own thoughts, this is the greatest meaning of the 1:1 reproduction of architecture.
Move the entire Naoshima island over
Look at the creation of the landscape from the Naoshima series of projects
In addition to the spiritual space of the original large replica, another thing that moved me was the third part of the exhibition, "The Creation of Landscapes", where a huge Naoshima model was placed on the ground, and the "island" was distributed with small models of buildings designed by Tadao Ando, and behind them was a rolling video introduction. Every time we introduce a building, the spotlight above the building model will be lit, guiding us to understand one by one.
▲ Jichu Art Museum © Manao Matsuoka
Naoshima is known as The Art Island of Japan, and now that both Naoshima and Tadao Ando are mentioned, it's easy to think of the Jichu Art Museum he designed. In 1988, Soichiro Fukutake, head of Japan's Benesse Holding Group (owner), commissioned Tadao Ando to "build an art museum on Naoshima that gathers people from all over the world and makes everyone feel courage."
In 2004, the Jichu Art Museum was established in the Minami tribe of Naoshima. The surface of the Museum of Earth has only a few square and triangular openings, which bring light to the works of artists such as Monet in the museum, and Impressionist paintings focus on the depiction of natural light, as does the museum itself.
At first, Tadao Ando was not very optimistic about the deserted island, but he described Soichiro Fukutake this way: "In a world that pursues rationality, convenience and economy, he pays attention to a world that is completely different from the world", which encourages Tadao Ando.
From 1987 to the present, Tadao Ando has completed seven projects in Naoshima, represented by the Jichu Art Museum, where he hides the geometric conception of the building in Naoshima's changing topography. From the Benesse House Museum, which invites artists to the Jichu Art Museum, from the Lee Woo Hwan Museum to the Ando Museum named after Tadao Ando, 700,000 people now visit Naoshima's art museum every year.
In Naoshima, where humans and art, nature and terroir of the place are in dialogue with each other, this year Tadao Ando is still working on two Naoshima projects, and it is not difficult to understand why he is moving towards the 100th anniversary and why he has named the exhibition "Youth".
An 80-year-old youth
The place of youth in the "Youth" exhibition
Youth is a challenge that is not afraid of failure and faces difficulties.
Youth is the tenacious heart of being in the face of adversity and never giving up on dreams.
Youth is not a certain period of life.
Youth is the appearance of the heart.
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Tadao Ando
▲ Eternal Youth - Green Apple Hand-Drawn Manuscript © Tadao Ando Institute of Architecture
©️ Photography: Fu Shang and Beauty
Before entering the main door of the museum, everyone must meet this huge green apple art installation first. The appearance of the green apple is not a fixed program, and Tadao Ando specifically stressed that "this 'apple of youth' will be the symbol of this exhibition."
He said: "When I was a student, everyone had the ideal and dream of 'I want to do this, I want to live like this'. This green apple symbolizes the youthful heart of you and me in our teens and twenties. In it, I want to share this message with you - without losing the 'heart of the green apple', keep running, even if you are 100 years old, you can have a 100-year-old youth. ”
, duration 02:05
It is precisely because this is a retrospective exhibition of life with the theme of "youth", in many details of the exhibition, many exhibits can feel the vigorous vitality of Tadao Ando, and finally share the touching places I captured during the exhibition, and more touching will be handed over to each reader to feel on the spot.
▲ "Doji Forest Nakanomi(Children's Book No Morinakanojo)"
Among the many architectural models, this model also has a small green apple. This is a children's library "Island in the Forest of Children's Books" built last year, located in Tadao Ando's hometown of Osaka, and is a gift he donated to the children of his hometown.
In this exhibition, Tadao Ando mentioned the construction of his hometown. He said that in Japan, many people leave their urban places and never return, which is not good, "a person after success, or should think about returning to their home, return to their hometown, in order to make society better and work hard." ”
▲ Paris Stock Exchange © Mano Matsuoka
There are also some emotions from outside home, and this year, the Paris Stock Exchange, in which Tadao Ando participated in the renovation, finally opened its doors. He inserted a 9-meter-tall concrete cylinder structure into the old building, clarifying the new identity of the museum. The model of this reconstructed building came to the exhibition site, and it was impossible to visit Paris, but everyone had the opportunity to feel the transformation of the old and the new.
Tadao Ando told everyone: "The owner of this museum, François Pinault, has been thinking about how to contribute to society after leaving his hometown and achieving career success, and this modern art museum is his answer." Despite the difficulty of the renovation process, he and François Pino spent 30 years, little by little, interacting with each other and pondering together, and finally presented such a spectacular building. This kind of persistence makes us feel moved when we stand next to the architectural model.
In the eyes of the 80-year-old Tadao Ando, "youth is full of spirit and energy", how would you define youth? Come to the exhibition site to find your answer.
Curator: Takaaki Mizutani (Japanese) Ma Weidong (Chinese)
Address: Beijing Minsheng Art Museum No. 9 Jiuxianqiao North Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing
Session: Tuesday, October 12, 2021 to Sunday, January 9, 2022
Opening Hours:
Tuesday to Thursday, Sunday 10:00-18:00 (last admission: 17:30)
Friday and Saturday 10:00-20:00 (last admission 19:30)
(Closed on Mondays, except statutory holidays)
Photo and source: Bunko International, Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation, Tadao Ando Institute of Architecture, "Island in the Forest of Children's Books (こども本の森中島)" official website, One Night Aesthetics
What do you think of Tadao Ando's youthful heart?