Tadao Ando completes Amayadori, a public toilet in Jingu-Dori Park
15/09/2020.
[Shibuya - Tokyo] Japan
metalocus, LUCAS SANTORINI
metalocus, LUCAS SANTORINI
Project description by Tadao Ando
AMAYADORI
I sought for this small architecture to exceed the boundaries of a public toilet to become a “place” in the urban landscape that provides immense public value. Using this clear and simple reasoning for the concept of this structure, I chose to utilize a circle floorplan with a spanning roof and engawa*.
It was vital for me to make a space that was comfortable and safe. Visitors can move inside a cylindrical wall of vertical louvers to feel the comfort of the wind and light from the surrounding environment. A feeling of safety will be emphasized by the free and centripetal circulation which passes through to the other side. This toilet tucked away in the greenery that is Jingu-Dori Park will be known as “Amayadori.”
*In Japanese architecture, an engawa (縁側 or 掾側) or en (縁) is an edging strip of non-tatami-matted flooring, usually wood or bamboo. The ens may run around the rooms, on the outside of the building, in which case they resemble a porch or sunroom.
Tadao Ando was born in Osaka, Japan in 1941. A self-educated architect, he spent time in nearby Kyoto and Nara, studying firsthand the great monuments of traditional Japanese architecture. Between 1962 and 1969 he traveled to the United States, Europe, and Africa, learning about Western architecture, history, and techniques. His studies of both traditional Japanese and modern architecture had a profound influence on his work and resulted in a unique blend of these rich traditions.
In 1969 Ando established Tadao Ando Architect and Associates in Osaka. He is an honorary fellow in the architecture academies of six countries; he has been a visiting professor at Yale, Columbia, and Harvard Universities; and in 1997, he became professor of architecture at Tokyo University.
Ando has received numerous architecture awards, including the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1995, the 2002 American Institute of Architects Gold Medal, and also in 2002, the Kyoto Prize for lifetime achievement in the arts and philosophy. His buildings can be seen in Japan, Europe, the United States, and India.
In fall 2001, following up on the comprehensive master plan commissioned from Cooper, Robertson & Partners in the 1990s and completed in 2001, Tadao Ando was selected to develop an architectural master plan for the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute to expand its buildings and enhance its 140-acre campus.