Frank Lloyd Wright may be a world famous architect whose homes frequently hit the market for well into the seven figures and, sometimes, even higher.
But he has nothing on Tadao Ando, the 81-year-old Japanese architect, whose homes are in demand by some of the wealthiest people in the world, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Beyonce and Jay-Z, for example, recently bought an Ando-designed home for a California record $200 million. The musical power couple purchased the property at 27712 Pacific Coast Highway, which has nearly 6 acres. The seller was Bill Bell Jr., an art collector and son of the creators of soap operas “Bold and Beautiful” and “The Young and the Restless” who commissioned Ando to build the concrete, 40,000-square-foot mansion that overlooks the Pacific.
Hova and Queen Bey aren’t the only celebrities to be drawn to Ando’s work. Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, bought an Ando-designed home in Malibu for just over $57 million in 2021.
And while Wright is known for the sheer volume of his work, there are less than 20 Ando-designed homes in the U.S.
People talk about Ando in reverential terms.
“It was like working with God,” Compass agent Leonard Steinberg told the outlet of his experience working on a sale at a New York condominium designed by Ando.. “There was definitely a sense that we were dealing with an iconic figure of our time.”
Kim Kardashian, who commissioned Ando to design a home in Palm Desert, California, also wrote glowingly of Andon.
“Met with the master himself, Tadao Ando to review and discuss a dream project we have been working on for the past two years,” she said on social media, according to the outlet.
With such glowing praise, Ando’s work is considered more art than just functional homes.
“It is about pushing design ideals to a level that is not normal,” Leo Marmol, an architect, told the outlet. “The client has to be willing to embrace that, and look at the relationship with Mr. Ando as working with a true master.”
— Ted Glanzer