Books

Seven Interviews with Tadao Ando accompanied the opening of the new Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando. The interviews explore Ando's central belief that architecture is all about creating "exquisite and wonderful memories", which come about when a building allows its occupants to connect with themselves and make their intellectual dreams become possible.

Ando also recognizes that creation of such memories must involve the architect taking risks, particularly with materials and location. In the case of Fort Worth, the building's double skin of concrete volume encased in a glass-skin box is entirely new. Ando's design concepts are discussed not only within the specific context of the Fort Worth building, but also within the context of Ando's wider underlying philosophy and beliefs.

Author Michael Auping considers the key influences in Ando's career, particularly his initial experience as a builder, his early travels around his native Japan, the influence of ancient classical buildings such as the Pantheon in Rome, artists like Brancusi, Henry Moore and Isamu Noguchi and architects such as Le Corbusier, Lloyd Wright, and especially Louis Khan.