Making simple geometry resonate in complex ways is a hallmark of Tadao Ando’s work. Whether it’s embedding platonic volumes in the earth, as he did at the Chichu Museum on Naoshima Island (PDF–page 116), or inserting a cross of glass into a thick concrete box, as he did at the Church of the Light in Osaka (1989), the 79-year-old architect knows how to give emotional depth to buildings assembled from basic forms and honest materials. He’s done it again at the He Art Museum (HEM) in Foshan, a city in the Pearl River Delta about 20 miles southwest of Guangzhou and 110 miles north of Hong Kong. As he has before, Ando integrates architecture with landscape and water to create a project that’s both universal in its appeal and specific to its place.
Commissioned by He Jianfeng, a 53-year-old tycoon who has assembled an art collection ranging from traditional works to international and Chinese contemporary pieces, Ando rooted his design in beliefs from the area’s Nanyue culture, which flourished 2,000 years ago in a territory that stretched from Vietnam through today’s Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan provinces. According to Ando, the circle symbolized harmony in the Nanyue kingdom, and the Chinese character He represents peace and harmony, an opportune convergence. The site, though, presented challenges, as it sits south of a busy commercial district, where the client’s family has the headquarters of one of its businesses, and north of a public park—two areas with very different features.
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