Tadao Ando

The self-taught Japanese architect transformed raw concrete into a medium of poetic minimalism and spiritual contemplation. His Church of the Light in Osaka (1989) — a cross of light cut into a concrete wall — is considered one of the most moving religious spaces of the 20th century, achieving transcendence with near-zero ornamentation. Ando won the Pritzker Prize in 1995 and the Kyoto Prize in 2002, and has completed over 200 buildings using materials stripped to their absolute essence.