Tadao Ando Builds A Ranch For Tom Ford’s Inner Cowboy

Tadao Ando’s ranch for Tom Ford. These images by photographer Guido Mocafico, were first featured in the December 2010/January 2011 issue of Vogue Paris. Via Full Time Ford.

Tadao Ando’s serene Japanese aesthetic blends surprisingly well with the arid terrain of Santa Fe. Sitting on a 24,000-acre property, this ranch, designed by the award-winning architect, provides a fully equipped equine facility and stunning expansive views for fashion designer, film director, and (apparently) cowboy Tom Ford.

Introducing bold geometry and his signature stoic concrete walls into the New Mexico landscape, Ando envelopes and highlights portions of barren land and turns them into monumental ‘scapes of form and light. The rustic color palette of the surrounding landscape permeates into the complex, filling the space with burnt tones of the soil and the heavy blues of the sky and water. Add Ando’s skillful control of circulation to the mix, and you essentially have a sprawling chapel in the desert. The architect does, after all, admit to approaching religious and residential buildings the same way, saying that “dwelling in a house is not only a functional issue, but also a spiritual one.”  Via Architizer

 Turns out that even Ford, known for his provocative ad campaigns and persona, has a spiritual side as well. During an interview with Lisa Eisner in GQ Australia, he admitted the importance of nature in his life:

If you spend time on our ranch or in the American West or anywhere in nature, all of a sudden, all the things you worry about all the time fade away. That’s why one of the greatest problems with where we are culturally at this time is that we’ve all lost touch with the earth and that which is really important in the world.

Before his immersion into the fashion industry, the former Gucci House Director had actually studied architecture in New York. Although he isn’t currently designing buildings, his interest in architecture seems to be holding strong (judging from his growing collection of properties that extends to London, Paris, Los Angeles, and of course, Santa Fe). We will definitely be keeping our eyes open for his next acquisition.

 

 All images © Guido Mocafico

via Architizer

Tadao Ando Builds A Ranch For Tom Ford’s Inner Cowboy