Tadao Ando

Researching the Minimalistic Architectural style that my thesis focuses on I found a name that came up often: Tadao Ando. Tadao Ando is so inspirational to me in so many ways; 1) He was a boxer, I studied boxing as well.  I know this may be silly and child like to be enthusiastic about this, but that's just me 2) He never formally studied Architecture, he is self taught.  How many self taught experts in any field end up winning what is considered the highest honor in Architecture, the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1995? 3) He is the creator of the Japanese structure Church of Light, which I have seen and admired a number of times, but didn't know of the Architect.  This guy is something else!  When he won the $100,000 prize for the Pritzker, he gave all the money to help children in Japan after one of their large earthquakes.  Needless to say, I want to be this kind of visionary and contributor to society and my field.