Church On the Water, Church of the Light

Tadao Ando is a leading architect of his generation. These two churchesemonstrate essential themes in his approach to the design of places oforship. This book presents each of the churches in detail, using Ando's ownrawing archive, including his sketchbooks.;The Church on the Water occupies pastoral site and consists in plan of two squares, one large, one small,hat overlap and are arranged facing a man-made lake. The smaller of thesewo squares is a calming preparatory space, enclosed on four sides byilky-white frosted glass, an "enclosure of light", where one can pauseefore entering the glass walled chapel below.;The Church of the Light isuilt in a quiet residential area of Osaka, and was planned as an annex tohe existing church and vicarage. Here Ando explores the spiritual force ofhe effects of sunlight on simple raw concrete. Slits cut in the form of aross perforate the chapel's front wall, and when lit by sunlight theyanifest what Ando describes as a "cross of light".;When presented togetherhese two churches provide a synthesis of opposites, creating spaces that