Ando’s treatment of nature in the city is something else that distinguishes his work. Confronted by the vuglar urban environment of downtown Osaka, he came to the conclusion that coexistence with nature was funtamental to human life. He proposed a new lifestyle in coexistence with nature, which is integrated into the dwelling. It can get extremely cold in winter, on rainy days an umbrella is needed to go to the tiolet. Ando gave priority, not to some facile notion of convenience, but to being able to look up to sky and feel the wind. The courtyard of the Row House is a secluded space cut off from the commotion of the city; it is open only to the sky. It is a window, accepting light, wind and rain so that nature is able to seep into the spirit of the observer. The courtyard, made of concrete, glass and slate, reflects incident light and causes complex shadows. Matter has a psycological effect on the observer precisely because the absence of ornament invites extraordinary empathy.