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Tesserae - Shane O'Toole on Irish Architecture

Tadao Ando: Creating Dreams, Dublin

Tadao Ando: Creating Dreams, Dublin
Squeals of delight greeted Bono as he showed up to introduce Tadao Ando, the world's most decorated architect, in front of 2,500 admirers at the RDS in Dublin last Sunday. Referring to the ageless 66-year-old's trademark Beatle haircut, U2's front man said: "Ando-san is John, Paul, George and Ringo, rolled into one. If you're a fan of architecture, this is Shea Stadium." Finding a voice is the hardest thing for an artist, he observed, but "Ando, a Buddhist punk with a Presbyterian eye, has invented his own language. He is the world heavyweight champion of concrete, light and spiritual regeneration." full article

Article Archives
September 30, 2007 Tadao Ando: Creating Dreams, Dublin
February 18, 2007 Francis Pym: Ulster Museum, Belfast
September 3, 2006 FKL architects: SubUrban to SuperRural, Venice Architecture Biennale
May 22, 2005 FKL Architects: Library & Fingal local area offices, Baldoyle, County Dublin
March 27, 2005 O'Donnell + Tuomey: Lewis Glucksman Gallery, University College Cork
March 13, 2005 10x10_2: 100 Architects 10 Critics
February 20, 2005 Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects: Habitat 825, West Hollywood, CA
February 13 2005 Niall McLaughlin Architects: Dirk Cove, County Cork
June 13 2004 15 Usher's Island, The House of The Dead
February 2004 The Snow Show: 2003 Preview, Lapland
August 17, 2003 Boyd Cody Architects: Ballagh House, Temple Cottages, Dublin
March 16, 2003 Tom de Paor: Young Architect of the Year, 2003
November 10, 2002 Barry Byrne: Christ the King, Turner's Cross, Cork
September 8, 2002 Gilroy McMahon Architects: Croke Park Stadium, Dublin
Autumn 2002 O'Donnell + Tuomey: Letterfrack Furniture College, County Galway
July 18, 2002 New Trends of Architecture in Europe and Japan: Tokyo, 2002
March 17, 2002 Eileen Gray: E-1027, Roquebrune Cap Martin
March 3, 2002 Grafton Architects: Università Luigi Bocconi, Milan
September 30, 2001 Scott Tallon Walker & Michael Warren: Tulach a' tSolais, Oulart, County Wexford
July and September, 2000 Tom de Paor: N³, Venice Architecture Biennale
May 14, 2000 Tom de Paor: A13 Artscape, East London
March 12 2000 Niall McLaughlin Architects: Shack, Northamptonshire
January 2, 2000 de Blacam and Meagher: 1 Castle Street, Dublin

Tesserae
Tessera, æ. Latin, from Greek, neuter of tesseres, variant of tessares - four. I. A square, a small cubic or quadrangular piece of stone, glass, earthenware or wood used for making mosaics or pavements or as ornament in inlaying floors; also, a square board or tablet on which anything is written; II. A die for playing with; III. A mark, token. 1. In the field, a tablet on which the watchword was inscribed, hence often rendered as watchword, signal; 2. A piece of ivory, bone, wood used as a ticket for receiving corn or money or for admission to theatres or as a certificate for successful gladiators; 3. The mark or token of hospitality: hence apud nos confregisti tessaram - you have put an end to our friendship or you have not kept your word

Shane O'Toole is an architect and critic. A director of Group 91 Architects during the 1990s, he is Tegral company architect and Irish architecture critic for The Sunday Times. He was the Irish Architecture Foundation's Commissioner for the Venice Biennale's 10th International Architecture Exhibition.