Tadao Ando: Concrete Expert

Ando is a Japanese architect who is the master of concrete; literally. He works with it like it is clay and the results are amazing! Building whole museums and apartment buildings out of concrete and glass shows how amazing his work is. He even uses water! He built an entire complex of buildings on water (!), how cool is that!
After growing up in Osaka, Japan, he went on to building little wooden models with a local carpenter. The model inspired him to start doing something bigger; architecture. So he bought an architecture book and traced the pictures "so many times that all the pages turned black." After turning 18, he pursued his dream and built his first building, Tomishima House in 1973.
Now he has over 40 architectural builds and has won 13 awards. One of them is Raika Headquarters building in Osaka Japan. Built in 1989 this building is mostly made of concrete and lots of glass. Another one of his builds is the Suntory Art Museum in Osaka Japan. This one was built in 1994 and is a large and geometrical museum made of mostly concrete and steel.
Overall Tadao Ando is a pretty cool dude. He makes amazing buildings that use nature and the surroundings to enhance the building. Here is a video of some of his buildings and building plans. Here is a link to a video interview about Tadao Ando.