Pritzker (architecture’s Pulitzer) prize recipient Tadao Ando likes concrete. A lot. Many of us might have natural aversions to it, perhaps due to ill-fated skateboarding attempts or open bar nights gone horribly wrong. But if you’re going to be traveling through Tokyo’s Shibuya station expansion in the not-too-distant future, you’re going to have to come to terms with the stuff, because it’s got Ando written all over it. It’s not a bad thing; Ando takes the mundane material and sculpts it into designs that merge minimal, modern angles with natural light and the surrounding environment. Beautiful concrete isn’t an oxymoron, or at least it doesn’t have to be. Take a look at the work in progress above.

(Image courtesy Ken-Platz)

New Shibuya Station by Tadao Ando (via dezain.net)

By Justin Keesey