Venini Ando Cosmos crystal vase by Tadao Ando (2017) – 781.30

Three glass elements blend together to create the geometry of a sphere concealed by their conjunction. Have you ever seen the cosmos so close? Space in matter. Matter in space. Finite in its infinity and vice versa. This is how Tadao Ando imagines it: it’s up to your imagination to fill the void.

Before dedicating himself to architecture as a self-taught professional, Tadao Ando led a very varied life, working as a truck driver and boxer. His approach to Architecture has sometimes been classified as critical Regionalism and is based on the principles of minimalist aesthetics. Ando is strongly influenced by the modern movement, in particular by Le Corbusier, but at the same time deeply linked to traditional Japanese architecture. In his work, he has always set himself a strong limitation in his choice of design themes in order to confer an almost “artisanal” feel to his objects in the definition of every detail. The artist is famous for an exemplary style that evokes the material nature, the connection, and the reading of spaces in a typically Japanese manner through an aesthetic comparison with international modernism. A choice that is then translated into the almost exclusive use of fair-faced concrete, with form work following the shape and size of Japanese tatami, often combined with wood and stone. In 1969, the artist opened Tadao Ando Architects & Associates. His collaboration with VENINI began in 2011.