From March 19 to June 6, 2021, Fosun Foundation presents "TADAO ANDO: ENDEAVORS," a solo exhibition by one of the world's most active and influential architects.  Tadao Ando is known as the "Poet of Fair-faced Concrete" for his unique use of fair-faced concrete and is a self-taught master. Over the past 50 years, he has designed nearly 200 internationally renowned buildings and won a series of world architectural awards, including the Pritzker Prize,  "the Nobel Prize in architecture". As the fourth stop of Tadao Ando's global tour and the most comprehensive retrospective of his architectural career in China to date, this exhibition will showcase the legendary life of the master architect and his never-ending challenges in life through the reproduction of classic architectural works, exquisite architectural models, detailed design manuscripts, as well as a large number of exclusive films, travel notes, and photographs. As the fourth stop of Tadao Ando's global exhibition tour, and in order to let the audience have a more intuitive experience of the beauty of the architect's design, Tadao Ando Architect & Associates has specially modified the space layout and structure according to the architectural characteristics of Fosun Foundation for this exhibition, creating a unique light and shadow space with his design characteristics for the audience.

#PROTOTYPE OF SPACE

From the 1970s to the present, Tadao Ando has been at the forefront of architectural activity. His works, which have been produced all over the world, have been widely acclaimed for their high spatial quality and for their perfect fit with places. The most characteristic feature is Tadao Ando's consistent design philosophy. The works of the artist range from the root themes of light and geometry distilled from his early residential works, to the urban architecture of the city, which implies the traditional Japanese spatial concept of "Ma" , to the architecture of regionalism, which creates new relationships in response to the culture of the site.

#URBAN CHALLENGE

Since he began his architectural activities as "Urban Guerrilla", Tadao Ando has impacted the architectural world with his many avant-garde works. Since the mid-1990s, he has been involved in projectsthat have grown in scale, and have become more diverse and public. If one were to evaluate his work in various fields, one of the benchmarks would be the challenge to the city. In the 1970s, Tadao Ando challenged the cityfrom the "grassroots" through small residential and commercial buildings, and how did he carry on his spirit of struggle in the world-famous metropolis? Section 2 will introduce the achievementsof Tadao Ando's urban challenge through his projects in various cities in China.

#LANDSCAPE CREATION

Throughout Tadao Ando's public architecture works, the theme of Section 3 is "LANDSCAPE CREATION" as opposed to the benchmark division of "URBAN CHALLENGE" in Section 2. The term landscape or scenery is not used in the superficial sense of landscape design. Rather, it is a concept that encompasses multiple values, including the communal memory of a place that survives. Tadao Ando, after carefully understanding the connotations of the landscape, used an original architectural approach to highlight its character and give new value to the place. The most widespread practice of this architectural approach is the Naoshima series of projects that span 30 years.

#DIALOGUE WITH HISTORY

Tadao Ando categorizes his work as culturalism, emphasizing that his own existence is but a part of the historical association of architecture. This attitude is perhaps most evident in his projects that focus on the reconstruction of historical buildings. While paying tribute to the time engraved in the original building, Tadao Ando makes every effort to preserve it as a memory, and at the same time hopes to present a new modern space inside, inspiring a dialogue between the old and the new, and making people expect the power of connecting time from the past to the present.

"Tadao Ando: Endevors" ©️CA-GROUP, Photo by Chen Hao