Tadao Ando

Now, at eighty-five, Ando looks back on a lifetime of making. Born in a working-class family living amongst the ruins of postwar Osaka, he could not afford a university education. After a brief stint as a professional boxer, he taught himself architecture at night from books, founded a practice in a cheap rented room, and, after years of uncertainty, persistence, and belief, eventually saw his ‘concrete poetry’ built around the world.

Towards Light, Ando’s first through-written book to be translated into English, explores the stories behind his greatest buildings and shares wisdom drawn from pivotal moments in Ando’s life. Ando is a guide to both the granular demands of creative work — clients, budgets, and the importance of using your own tools — and the exhilaration of inspiration, the power of art and music to spark new ideas, and how to keep the imagination open.

Towards Light is a grounded guide to a creative life as it is actually lived, for anyone committed to their work and to the long process of creating something meaningful.