About the book
The fact that discussions of architecture are largely unchartered
territory in philosophy leads the phenomenological and
hermeneutical philosopher Günter Figal onto its unexplored
paths. After previously surveying the work of Frank Lloyd
Wright and Peter Zumthor, Figal turns his attention to Tadao
Ando’s buildings in this book. Figal’s philosophical considerations
include refl ections on space, modernity, but also—in
light of the fact that many of Ando’s buildings are museums
or house works of art—on art.
Figal explores Ando’s buildings—simple and reduced in their
sparing use of only a few materials—as manifestations of the
architect’s sense for what is possible. Ando’s buildings determine
and change their locations; through their passageways,
staircases, and transitional areas, they infl uence how visitors
behave in them, and also communicate a sense of tradition
without being traditional. Figal’s book steps away from the
beaten track of architectural discourse.
