The objective of the bachelor's thesis is to analyse and to classify the style of Tadao Andō (1941), a Japanese architect, who intertwines a modernistic structural approach with elements, that have their roots in traditional Japanese architecture. Andō's work is demonstrated in two different settings – in reference to critical regionalism, which is based on the philosophical study of phenomenology, and in reference to Zen buddhism and its concepts of yūgen, wabi and sabi. The unadorned style, which is charecteristic for the architect and typlically utilizes a blank concrete wall, is defined through the buddhist idea of emptiness – this is also the basis for the aforementioned concepts of traditional Japanese aesthetics. Andō's space is distinctive in the way it communicates with nature and its surroundings – the thesis explores this in different ways: firstly through the phenomenological approach of genius loci, secondly thorugh the concept of »national« landscape as defined by Tetsurō Watsuji, and lastly through the particular play of light and shadow. The thesis explores the features of the environment or region that are supposed to define the arhitecture of Tadao Andō as typically »Japanese«.
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