The fact that discussions of architecture are largely unchartered territory in philosophy leads the phenomenological and hermeneutical philosopher G?nter 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.
