Church of the Light, Ibaraki, Osaka, Japan, Plan
Tadao Ando
Japanese, born 1941
1989
A graphite drawing on Japanese paper mapping Tadao Ando’s plan for the Church of the Light, an attempt to control ritual and emotion by organizing space and a cruciform cut to choreograph light within austere concrete.
You first notice the drawing’s precise, ghostly lines and layered tracing-paper feel—the long rectangular nave pierced by a diagonal axis, measured dimensions and notes, and circular tree symbols that make the plan read like a delicate score for light and movement.
The sheet reveals Ando’s minimalist strategy—treating light as a primary architectural material—and belongs to a body of work that redefined late‑20th‑century architecture by translating restrained geometry and spiritual intensity from paper into built form.
Medium
Graphite on Japanese paper
Dimensions
16 3/8 x 24" (41.6 x 61 cm) (approx.)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the architect in honor of Philip Johnson
Accession
348.1996
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
