Church on the Water, Tomamu, Hokkaido, Japan, Elevation and plan, sketch
Tadao Ando
Japanese, born 1941
1985–1988
A crayon-and-ink on paper architectural sketch in which the architect tests elevation and plan ideas for Church on the Water, using spare marks to explore siting, proportion, and the building’s relation to a watery horizon.
A broad, textured sweep of deep blue arrests the eye like a horizon, punctuated by a cruciform and a thin vertical mark, while small, precise ink diagrams of plan and elevation sit below like practical notes to the expressive gesture above.
The drawing distills Tadao Ando’s move to reduce architecture to elemental lines, light, and water, showing how quick, poetic sketches guided the development of late-20th-century minimalist architectural space.
Medium
Crayon and ink on paper
Dimensions
12 x 12 3/4" (30.5 x 32.4 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the architect
Accession
139.1993
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
