By Kwaak Jeyup
Korea Times Intern
One of the world's most renowned architects and Pritzker laureate, Tadao Ando, gave a lecture about his career of dreams at the 63 Building in Yeouido, Seoul, Thursday evening.
The story of his extremely unusual professional career path resonated through the jam-packed conference room and visibly inspired the audience, evidenced by the thunderous applause. His natural flow of humor drew rounds of laughter, not only keeping the two-hour lecture light but also re-enforcing the connection between the speaker and the audience. He was speaking at the first of the three-part Hanhwa Dream Conference series this year.
Ando started as a professional boxer during his late teens in his native working-class neighborhood in Osaka, and by the age of 21, had traveled through North America, Europe, Africa and Asia in order to study architecture ― by observation and self-instruction.
Seven years later, he established his own firm and took on his inaugural project, modifying a tiny and dated house in his hometown. Foretelling a career known for his environment-encompassing designs, Ando was said to have finished the house without any heating or air-conditioner systems. He also left a hollow space next to the dining room, ``so that those who eat would be able to enjoy the rain.''
When the client's family members had outgrown the space ― literally by having three children ― the architect purchased the structure and has since used it as his atelier, which he has shared with his dog, named Corbusier after his idol. Today, he is a venerated architect, known for his polished use of concrete, light and landscape. He has designed hundreds of structures around the world, among which are the Church of the Light in Osaka, the Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, and the Pulitzer Foundation Building in St. Louis, Mo.
Lighthearted anecdotes formed the main part of his lecture, but his ``storytelling'' never seemed artificially structured; Ando's life seemed to be a continuum of his dreams. ``One must live in seishan (the blooming springtime, or youth, in Japanese) at all stages of life," he said, meaning at no point in life should one feel too old to have no dreams blossoming.
While explaining about his long-drawn and yet-unfulfilled dream of designing the Osaka waterfront, he asserted that dreams need courage to persevere. He cheerfully recalled the past mayor who had regularly opposed the architect's projects that pushed the boundaries of imagination. The former mayor has now passed away. Ando spoke buoyantly of developing the nationally-owned waterfront site, to design a museum for the Osaka brewery and distillery Suntory and to include three killer whales swimming in the sea/zoo as an integral part of his signature rapprochement of the environment and the exposed concrete. Having encountered further opposition by the current mayor, he intends to keep dreaming nonetheless.