Tadao Ando, a Japanese architecture, is known for his creative use of natural light and how he uses the natural shape of landscapes to build his architectural designs instead of conforming the area to build the building itself. His work seems to embodied a sense of traditional Japanese culture, and creates space of enclosure, instead of openness. Walls are put up to established human zones, 'deflecting surrounding urban chaos,' while the interior of the area is encloses a more private setting.
I really enjoyed looking at this Azuma House creation. It was his early which showed elements of his characteristic style. The total size of the house was a mere 700 square ft of living space. To be able to create a living space this nice with such little space is quite impressive to me. The living room is actually connected to the public street while a central courtyard is at the heart of this house.
If we were to compare Tadao Ando's work to one of the other artist on the list, I would have to pick Dan Flavin because of his lighting manipulations. Although Tadao used natural light, he still manipulated the area where the natural lighting would take place and bring out the best settings for that area of space. Dan Flavin's work would be similar due to the fact that he could also manipulated the lighting setting to create an impression of the space of a building or room. It's also his rectangular lighting that resembles Tadao's rectangular architectural building design, i.e., Azuma House.
Citations:
http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Tadao_Ando.html
http://www.minimalismic.com/blog/2010/03/tadao-ando/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadao_Ando
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Flavin
