ANDO's Church of Light

My profession made possible several overnight visits to Naoshima Island. Naturally I went into Ando Tadao's architecture including Chichu Museum and Benesse accommodations. That's how I developed interest in his designs. Thanks to him, I came to like visiting and think about modern architecture and discovered other architects and their works. 


One of his well-known works among architecture lovers is "The Church of the Light" in the city of Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture. A few years back I attended the Sunday Mass and experienced Ando's work functioning first-hand. The light comes through the cruciform cut in the wall behind the pastor's podium. The cross is fitted with glass panes, which ANDO had to compromise.  Without the glass, the light would be of more vigor and more animated but it would not be user-friendly. 


The light seen through a finder would look more fantastic than seen straight with your eyes. Magic of photography.

ANDO's Literature Museum in Himeji

This one in the city of Himeji was completed in 1991. The city is famous for Himeji Castle. Engyo-ji temple where The Last Samurai featuring Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe was shot  is also in Himeji. The temple serves several excellent temple meal courses. Worth trying.

The museum is not far away from the castle but not many foreign tourists are seen. The number of Japanese visitors is also limited. But it's rather fortunate for those who love to see architecture alone. Near the museum stands a Japanese style house and the admission is free of charge. Locals can rent a room and do their activities. But you, as a traveler, can experience a nice interior of a good Japanese house.

Nariwa Museum designed by ANDO

This museum stands in a small city called Takahashi nestled in the mountains. The nearest JR station is Bicchu-takahashi, about 35 minutes by limited express Yakumo from JR Okayama Station. A very relaxing place with this beautiful modern museum standing on the foundation of the former castle-like residence of feudal lord YAMASAKI and a friendly local shopping street called HONCHO KAGURA ROAD.

The museum first opened in 1953 and was rebuilt in 1977. The present building designed by ANDO is the third museum building, completed in 1994. 

The museum is mostly for displaying KOJIMA Torajiro's works and collections. He had a very special trusted relationship with OHARA Magosaburo, the 2nd president of Kurabo textile company and the founder of Ohara Museum of Fine Arts in Kurashiki. OHARA sent KOJIMA to Europe several times where KOJIMA purchased Wesern paintings funded by OHARA. Which lead to the opening of the first gallery in Japan that publicly showed a collection of western art in 1930.

Here ANDO uses underground water to create serenity around the museum. There's a pool outside where water flows quietly and another behind the wall which contains static water. 

Water lilies grow in the inner pool. They were brought in from Ohara Museum of Fine Arts, which had been given some water lilies from the pond of Monet's garden in Giverny.

Nishi Fire Station near Peace Park

Skeleton-like floors - Good for height training 

This is one of the architecture you can easily enjoy due to its rather convenient location: 20 minutes from the fountain in front of the main wing of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. I timed it yesterday. But you can go there by bus too. Or take a tram at the stop near the A-bomb Dome.


The building is fun and educational. It's an interesting piece of architecture and what's more you can get to see the personnel in training. They look so cool. They are reliable and capable fighters against disasters. Thank you guys !!

Hiroshima fire fighters !

Talk to the personnel at the guard station on the ground level and apply for going up the building then you'll be permitted to go up to the 7th floor with your pass wearing around your neck. 


For architectural details, please go to arch-hiroshima. I did most of the translation of this site.

Up you go !

The fire station faces the Peace Boulevard.

Ando's Chichu Art Museum

Chichu Art Musuem
Site Area: 9990m2
Building Area: 34.98m2
Total Floor Area: 2573.48m2
Scale of Building: Three underground levels
Structure: Reinforced concrete

Above is the approach to Chichu Art Museum designed by ANDO. It was built and opened in 2004 on the south side of Naoshima island in the Seto Inland Sea where 3500 people live. It’s closer to Okayama Prefecture, 20 minutes by boat from Uno Port, than Kagawa Prefecture that the island belongs to. Kagawa is one of the four Shikoku prefectures.

Since the museum is on the south side of the island, Takamatsu City, Kagawa, is visible from Chichu Café at the museum. In fact, without going to the café, you never see the Inland Sea while you are on the premises of the museum. And of course, that must be part of ANDO’s scheme. The furniture used in the café is a collaborative work of ANDO and Cassina, an established Italian furniture manufacturer.

Here’s what ANDO had to say about the museum:

In 2004, Chichu Art Museum was completed. The premises are on the south hillside and used to be a salt field. I intended to create architecture immersed in the environment, where landscape should be kept intact. I pursued this intention further and the result was the museum buried in the earth. In the darkness of underground, light would embody space. With the existence of light, you come face to face with the artworks of Claude Monet, Walter De Maria, and James Turrell. I wanted to create that sort of extraordinary space. 

I felt wrapped by light. I faced the artworks but at the same time communicated with light in the cosmos ANDO created and ANDO’s concrete mass was ever so beautiful.

Now back to the real world. First, you purchase a ticket and some instructions will be given by a staffer clad in white. In the waiting room, you’ll see some tables and chairs. Try sitting the chairs. They’re the products of Vitra, highly-acclaimed for their sophisticated furniture made possible by the collaborative work of the company and world-famous designers and architects.

You proceed and walk on a gentle slope. On the left is Chichu Garden, where you see plants, flowers, and trees, and a pond, recreating the atmosphere of Monet’s Giverny Gardens.

In a few minutes, you are at the gate of ANDO’s cosmos, where artworks, Mother Nature and architecture coexist in a harmonious yet uncompromising relationship.

You see a portion of Chichu Art Museum in this picture, taken at the Benesse House, a contemporary museum and accommodations (also designed by Ando). Around the middle of the hill, you see Ando's concrete.

In 1995, Ando was awarded the Pritzker Prize, architecture’s equivalent of the Nobel. According to the Japan Times article featuring his interview, the then jury said Ando uses concrete as though it was “the tectonic demiurge of our time.”

Concrete as building material is Ando’s attribute. You might think concrete is only mundane as a building material but Ando’s concrete does not come cheap and easy. His concrete mass is so expressive that it manifests geometrical beauty.

His Row House in Sumiyoshi, Osaka, from 1976, is now legendary. It’s an operating private residence where the owners live, which proves that his extraordinary design of this reinforced concrete building has functioned as was intended. Late MURANO Togo, one of the greatest architects in modern Japan, once commented on this house after he toured it, saying: Well done. But the residents should be awarded some kind of prize above all. Listening to MURANO’s comment right there on the spot, Ando admitted that the owners’ understanding, cooperation, and patience made this house alive.

The land is very much limited; it’s small and rectangular (the house is 3.5m wide, 14m long, and 14m tall). It has an open central atrium, like a square courtyard, in the middle of the house; you have your own piece of sky up there and the light falling through is all yours, though on rainy days or windy nights you need extra determination to go to the bathroom from your living room, for you have to be out in the courtyard to reach your facilities. 

Now back to the Chichu Art Museum. You should be willing to be in a sphere detached from your daily routines. Step into a carefully designed space; breathe a different kind of air; feel free and take time. The architecture is basically subterranean, yet nature is exquisitely invited into the environment by a square and triangular courtyards. And of course, the inland sea seen from Chichu Café is impressive. Two of the images persistently in my mind are the open corridor with slanting side walls and the covered sloping hallway with a long transverse slit in one side of the walls. 

Three artists have their presence at the museum: Claude Monet, James Turrell, and Walter De Maria. 

Claude Monet: 
You are asked to change your shoes to soft indoor slippers at the shoe boxes. You walk into a vacant room which seems to have been built in order to provide space necessary to approach the display room of Monet’s water lilies. It’s still dim there but through the rectangular open entrance, you feel silky light trickling in. Once you enter the Monet’s room, the transparent veil of light surrounds you. And it’s white: white frames, white walls, white ceiling, and white floors.

The floors of the display room and the approach room are made of white marble, Bianco Carrara, coming from the same quarry Michelangelo valued. About 700 thousand two-centimeter cubes made of marble, cover the floor. The floors feel soft and gentle, though made of stone. The frames are also made of snow white marble, Thassos White; The walls are plastered in the same style as the outer walls of Takamatsu Castle once magnificently stood with its castle tower of twenty some meters. The ceiling of the display room has round corners, which do not disturb the consistency of your vision. There’s only natural light, indirectly coming in from between the covert skylight and the large white panel below it. You’d never be tired of seeing the pictures; every time you see, you will have different images under varied light. 

Musée de l'Orangerie will come to your mind when you think of Monet’s water lily pond. The water lilies at Chichu Art Museum were painted in Monet’s later years when his eyesight failed significantly due to cataract, and the motifs came closest to abstract. 

James Turrel: 
Born in the US in 1943, he is the artist of light and space. His three artworks displayed here will give you a chance to experience his art chronologically. One of the artworks, Open Field, makes light tangible; you feel like you’re enveloped by light. His life work is the project concerning an extinct volcano, Roden Crater. The project has been in progress for the last 30 years. He’s transforming the crater to a massive naked-eye observatory by making subterranean rooms and tunnels down there. Light will shed into the tunnels in many different ways depending on the location of the sun and the moon. He aims to create the space that light can be recognized in many different forms. 

Walter De Maria: 
He has his way of demonstrating light for you in the artwork, Time/Timeless/No Time. The large 2.2m granite sphere placed in the center of the room seems to have captured light inside. The light gently falling from the skylight is a gift to you. His best-known artwork must be The Lightning Field. It consists of 400 stainless steel posts arranged in a calculated grid over an area of 1 mile × 1 km. The time of day and weather change the optical effects. It lights up during thunder storms. 

The three artists and Ando the fourth give you a flight from your ordinary life. It’s a collaborative work of these four and the island of Naoshima.

Contemporary Komyo-ji temple, in Saijo, Ehime

Komyo-ji is a Buddhist temple whose mother temple is Nishi-hongan-ji in Kyoto. The temple follows the teachings of Jodo-shin sect established by Shinran (1173-1262). Shinran was one of the greatest Buddhist monks in those days who were reaching out to ordinary people. Buddhism for people who had to do whatever they could for survival including something low-down, not for the nobles or authorities, was gaining momentus at that time. 



The followers of Jodo-shin sect  worship Amitabha Buddha, the Buddha of Infinite Light, whose pure land lies in the direction of west. Amitabha comes to take you to the pure land when you are about to leave this world. In the pure land of Amitabha's, you are safe and pursue enlightenment under Amitabha's guidance.

The head priest of Komyo-ji requested Ando to meet the three conditions: 
The hall has to be wooden; 
The hall has to be light and friendly since the hall is where people gather; 
And Saijo's abundant spring water, for which the city is known, should be used. 

According to the principle of their sect, the hall must be very open, as the statue of the Buddha can be seen easily even from outside. In fact, through the square poles, you see the Buddha in the hall facing you. Between the hall and you is a shallow pool of spring water, constantly welling up. The hall is cheerful and is made to let natural light in.

Beside the main hall made of laminated lumber, there stand other structures made of concrete, Ando's attribute. 

Together, they create a spiritual realm of faith. The premises feel so peaceful and calm.

First you take off your shoes at the entrance, proceed in the concrete building on the right and come out of it through the door where the bell in this photo hangs. On the left is the main hall. You open a tall, heavy door to go in there. 

The main hall seen from outside

Where did Okunoshima bunnies come from?

In 1971, a local elementary school located across the strait from Okunoshima released eight rabbits kept at school. Unfortunately the situation didn't allow them to have them any more.

Since there have been no natural predators on the island, they multiplied in number over time. Now probably about 200. Some warmhearted locals bring veggies for them and basins of water seen everywhere are for them. 


In fact my friends and I met a man with a large plastic bag of broccoli leaves grown organically. He was from the town I live; he took an hour by car to come to Tadanoumi Port then 12 minutes for a boat ride to the island. He said he had grown broccoli leaves without using chemicals for the sake of bunnies. Worms and bugs ate them first so there are many halls on the leaves and he didn't intend to harvest the broccoli heads, just leaves for the cute lovable islanders.

Many of the English articles say the bunnies are offspring of those kept at the Imperial Army's poison gas factory which stood in this island from 1929 to 1945. Most likely it's not true. I checked some writings and asked about this at the Visitor Center of Okunoshima. 


Rather, in addition to the eight rabbits released originally, people left their pet bunnies on the island when they no longer wanted them. One of the panels at  the Visitor Center mentions this and discourages the dumping of pet bunnies, saying they would not be able to survive under a different environment.


The island is not all safe. Crows are always around and a big threat to baby bunnies. 


Let us hope for the security and welfare of the island bunnies !

Ando's gallery at Oyamazaki Sanso Museum

If you ever have a chance to go visit The Church of the Light, don't miss Asahi Beer Oh-yamazaki Villa Museum, which is not far away from the church. The combinded visit to these two places can be an unforgettable and artistic day trip. At the museum, you can come across the gallery designed by Ando but the whole place is of great interest in its relaxing natural settings. Here's one of the photos from the museum.

Here's a picture of Ando's gallery at Oyamazaki Villa Museum, nicknamed "the Subterranean Jewel Box . The approach to the underground gallery, which you are not allowed to take pictures, is inviting. In the gallery, sit on the chairs made by Australian aborigines and a Japanese artist Kazuhiko Amenomori (雨森一彦). You might like the way the gallery was designed to display Monet's water lilies.

Ando's Awaji Yume Butai

This is a photo from my day trip to the island of Awaji-shima, the first island created by a mythological deity couple of Isanagi and Izanami in ancient times, when there were only deities and no humanity and when Japan was about to be created.


Near Ando's Water Temle stands another of his work, rather a big one, named Awaji-Yumebutai meaning Awaji Dream Stage. It's a resort complex with a hotel, restaurants, shops, an international conference center, a green house named "The Miracle Planet Museum of Plants" and of course a dream world by Ando's architecture. 


The site was once an abandoned quarry, looking dismal, but was transformed into an exquisite Ando world where natural resilience and human engineering have restored the environment. 


The England soccer team Beckham once belonged to stayed at the hotel here, the Westin Awaji Island.

Water Temple, step by step

To water temple:

Honpuku-ji or popularly called Water Temple is on the island of Awaji-shima. The main and meeting halls were designed by ANDO. 

In the photo is the Akashi Strait Grand Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the world completed in 1998. It was supposed to be 3,910 meters long. However, it stretched by one meter due to ground strain caused by the extraordinary Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake on January 17, 1995. It connects KOBE, Honshu and AWAJI-SHIMA, an island between Honshu and Shikoku. Here we are, already on the island side. 

In front of the water temple:

Honpuku-ji is said to have been established toward the end of the Heian period (794-1185). The temple worships Yakushi Buddha, the Buddha of Medicine. Yakushi is almost all the time flanked by Gekko and Nikko Bodhisattvas, Gekko meaning the moonlight and Nikko sunlight. They take turns and protect you gingerly during the day and night. Here, too, the two Bodhisattvas serve Yakushi, though the three images are usually kept hidden and you cannot see the originals. 

The temple belongs to the Shingon sect founded by Kukai (literally meaning Sky and Ocean), a major esoteric Buddhism sect in Japan from the 9th century. His temples attract lots of pilgrims even though they are not always Shingon members in a strict sense of the word. In spring, many pilgrims come, tinkling their bells held in their hands. The sound is a reminder of the advent of warm spring.

Approach:

This path is on the right of the temple front. You see a blue sign in a distance, saying 水御堂 or water sanctuary hall.

Wall:

You are approaching the white concrete wall separating the secular and the spiritual. The wall is not imposing, rather friendly and gentle. Instead of denying your entry, the square opening in the wall invites you inward.

Inside the outer wall

A ray of light:

The light coming from afar.

Down you go:

In the middle of the lotus pond is an passageway to the main hall. The pond itself looks like a lotus leaf and you are descending down into the lotus itself.

Light from Pure Land:

Now in the basement. The circular corridor surrounding the round inner hall. The light is coming in from the west. It was 3:00pm. At the sunset, more light comes in turning the space completely vermillion.

Back to where you belong:

Now we'll go back to the world of white light.

Lotus pond:

Lotus and water lily will bloom in early summer. Their flowers have serene beauty and their petals are pure, though they come out of muddy ponds.

Inari Shrine:

Let us pass through a red gate called Torii seen in the right of the photo, and drop by at a Inari shrine on the grounds of the temple. It's common to have a Shinto shrine on the temple grounds and vice versa. The Meiji government tried to put an end to that practice to use Shinto as a national religion. They failed in the end and I'm happy about that.

Stone lantern and rocks:

They quietly stand here, next to a small Inari Shrine. They are history themselves.

I was all alone when walking on the premises of the temple. Left alone and so happy. Worth coming, taking 3 hours by car from my place in Hiroshima. One unforgettable day.