Original subtitles

(crickets softly chirping)

(footsteps softly clattering)

(speaking foreign language)

- [Tadao's Translator] I'm always asking myself

if I'm happy being an architect.

Often I think I should be a craftsman

because I truly enjoy making things with my hands.

As an architect, I can't build a house on my own.

I need to give my drawings to carpenters and craftsmen.

The moment I give my drawings away,

I start to worry because I'm not participating

in the process.

(speaking foreign language)

To make architecture is to make war.

The only difference is that in architecture,

there is no victory.

Victory should satisfy you but buildings rarely do.

I've never been satisfied with what I've built.

(boxing gloves softly tapping)

(speaking foreign language)

Progressing or regressing in one's development

really depends on the subject.

To be always standing on tiptoe, concentrating,

ready to make an advance are the lessons

I learned from boxing which I use in my work as well.

(speaking foreign language)

I'm always planning new projects

before actually getting the permission.

I often dream that I meet a client,

design a project, and try to complete it,

and then my dream ends.

Or sometimes I meet a client

and when I finish explaining my design,

he or she disappears, and that's when I wake up.

(loudspeaker voice in foreign language)

(speaking foreign language) There was an exhibition

of my work in Osaka in the spring of 1986.

I presented a model for a chapel on the water.

Kosaku Seki, President of the Alpha Resort Tomamu,

saw the exhibition and told me

he wanted to have a chapel built.

I was very surprised by his response.

His passion, courage, and love of adventure convinced me

to execute this project.

(speaking foreign language)

We immediately went to see this beautiful

and enormous landscape in Hokkaido.

Together, we decided on a specific site for the chapel

which is recently being completed.

(speaking foreign language)

When I saw this site, I was very happy

and I felt privileged to be able to design a building

for such a beautiful environment

on the shores of Lake Shirakaba.

I started to think about how to place my building

in the landscape without destroying these beautiful trees,

without destroying nature.

(speaking foreign language)

The difference between my architecture

and Western architecture lies

in the understanding of nature.

We Japanese accept nature and live in harmony with it.

Western people try to protect themselves from nature.

In my mid thirties, I first began to think

of the possibility of creating an international architecture

that could only be conceived by someone Japanese.

(speaking foreign language)

When I first saw this site,

I was inspired to create a large body of water

which was the image I wanted.

By placing this cross and the body of flowing water,

I wanted to express the idea of God

as existing in one's heart and mind

rather than something that is merely presented

to you by someone else.

I also wanted to create a space

in which one can peacefully sit and meditate.

(speaking foreign language)

The real cross is in the water.

These four crosses are meant as sculpture.

They are duplicated at night by being reflected

in sheets of glass that surround them.

People pass through this illusionary transitional space

before entering the chapel.

(speaking foreign language)

To create a flat body of flowing water is not an easy task.

Seemingly simple things such as making water flow flat

or making concrete smooth are the most difficult qualities

to achieve.

For instance, it is much easier to create a waterfall.

(speaking foreign language)

An in-depth study of the characteristics

and the behavior of such elements is necessary

due to the limited number of material possibilities.

Each work is a challenge to create a new space,

rich in potential that no one has experienced before.

(speaking foreign language)

- [Minister's Translator] As a Methodist minister,

I am sorry to say that there aren't many people

in this country who are seriously interested in posternity.

Even though only 1% of the Japanese population is Christian,

it has become very fashionable to be married in a church.

The ritual is easy to understand

and therefore accepted by those

who decide to have their weddings there.

(speaking foreign language)

- [Tadao's Translator] You never really know

what a building will look like until it is completed.

(speaking foreign language)

In our generation, scientific and technical advance

is so significant, especially in the west,

that architecture is almost totally conditioned by it.

In the next generation,

I feel the role of nature will become just as important.

Seen in this light, the idea of God

and nature will become somewhat different.

I believe that eventually,

Western and Eastern thinking will overlap

and open to a new world.

In the central section of Osaka, as in Kyoto and Tokyo,

you can still find groups of tenement housing

that have survived the war.

The Tomishima House of 1972, now my office,

stands on the corner on the street of tenements.

(speaking foreign language)

After building furniture interiors and small houses,

I opened my own office.

A friend told me about a young couple named Tomishima

who wanted someone to redesign their old tenement.

This was my first commission.

(speaking foreign language)

Originally, I designed this house for three,

the couple and their child.

The wife then became pregnant and had twins.

The house was too small for five people.

So as a joke, they said it was bad planning

on the architect's part,

and asked me to take the responsibility.

(speaking foreign language)

We subsequently bought this house

and it became my office.

Since then, we have changed the building many times.

I like the idea of renovating my own office

because it means I'm always testing my ideas.

(speaking foreign language)

(soft music) (speaking foreign language)

I never went to architecture school.

I studied architecture on my own

by going to see actual buildings

and reading books about them.

I felt I could learn more if I read about the space

while experiencing it at the same time.

Because the ancient cities of Kyoto and Nara are nearby,

there's a lot of great traditional architecture

in this area.

When I was about 18, I started to visit the temples,

shrines, and tea houses in Kyoto.

I was impressed by the way architecture was located

in harmony with the surrounding nature.

By sitting in this garden at the Ryoan-ji temple,

I found an infinite tranquility.

(speaking foreign language)

Unfortunately, I think that

Japanese contemporary architecture

has not incorporated the good qualities

of traditional Japanese culture.

Since World War II, our culture has been heavily influenced

by the West, many old and good things

have been lost along the way.

I'm not talking about external things,

such as form or material, but a way of thinking.

What interests me most is to find a way

to continue these traditional concepts and values

and thereby pass them onto the next generation.

(speaking foreign language)

In an old section of Kyoto stands

a three-story commercial building completed in 1984.

When I first saw the site,

I wondered how I could incorporate the river

successfully into my design. (speaking foreign language)

As you can see in my drawing here,

this so-called Times Building actually includes the river,

specifically the section between these two bridges.

(speaking foreign language)

In Japan, gardens such as the rock garden

of Ryoan-ji Temple are very well known,

but I couldn't really think of an example

of a traditional garden

where one enjoys the view of a river.

So, this new garden concept became the aim of the project.

(speaking foreign language)

Although modern material such as concrete was used,

I wanted to make an architecture that referred

to the traditional look of Kyoto,

to recreate the feeling of small streets

and piazzas that one experiences in this city.

(speaking foreign language)

I wanted to create a unity between the building

and the river by eliminating a borderline

between the two elements.

We walk through a labyrinth-like structure

where you don't know how much of it is building

and how much of it is nature

because you're constantly going in and out

of interior and exterior spaces.

I envision the project as an urban environment

rather than a single building.

So far, I have only built this one building

containing fashion boutiques.

At this point, I plan to expand this complex

starting with a building right next to it as a gallery

and here a restaurant.

(speaking foreign language)

Eventually, the river bank will be entirely filled

with buildings, creating a complete public space.

(speaking foreign language)

(softly clinking) (muffled music)

(speaking foreign language)

Life in Kyoto has a different pace.

People in Osaka are more dynamic and active.

They are full of vitality, always interested in new things,

not only in terms of accepting but also creating them.

Osaka people combine creativity

with their talent for commerce.

Here in Osaka where I grew up,

there used to be many markets like this.

This is a kind of place where not only goods are exchanged

but people communicate with each other.

It is sad that these markets are slowly disappearing.

I like being here listening to people

actively talking to each other.

(speaking foreign language)

The prime emphasis on economy and function have served

to obscure the real aim of modern architecture.

Ease of construction and efficiency

have become overemphasized

at the expense of spatial richness.

Symbolism in architecture and ornament were both eliminated.

With such a reduction,

you started to really lose the enjoyment of human life.

(speaking foreign language)

In the course of my development as an architect,

I have tried to reexamine all these elements

that were eliminated and bring them back

into my architecture.

(speaking foreign language)

The Akka building completed in 1988

is in the middle of Osaka City in a lively section

where there are numerous restaurants,

boutiques, an department stores.

(speaking foreign language)

From the exterior, it looks like a simple box

and you can't imagine what it's inside.

(speaking foreign language)

As you walk in, you are startled by changing distance.

I wanted to create a world where the interior

and exterior differ completely.

These are constantly changing

as you walk further inside the building.

It is something you can't conceive of from the outside.

I wanted to create a space that you would wish to explore

so that when you come in from the entrance,

you go straight forward until you reach the end of the hall.

Then you go up in these stairs

so this alley-like hallway flanked by shops functions

as a way of getting around as well

as a unifying element for all the different stores.

One of the main characteristics of this building

is the large open vertical space like an atrium.

Most Japanese commercial architecture after the war

has concerned itself with trying to pack

as many stores as possible into a given space.

Meaningful waste of space has been eliminated

for the sake of efficiency.

The balance between wasted space and efficiency

is a focal point in this particular project.

Here, obviously rain comes in.

In this project, I wanted

to build a three-dimensional plaza.

My main aim was to incorporate the outside weather

of all seasons, including rain, wind, and sunshine.

While designing this project,

I thought of the Pantheon in Rome

and Piranesi's etchings of prisons.

As you go down to the basement from the first floor,

the changing view creates a spacial drama.

You can see the image of the

Piranesian labyrinth in this space.

This would normally be considered wasted space

and therefore eliminated.

(speaking foreign language)

From here, you can see all the way to the sixth floor.

It feels like a cave in the city.

I want to bring back some of the drama

that's been neglected in modern architecture.

(softly humming)

(softly laughing)

(softly chattering) (soft piano)

(speaking foreign language)

Making architecture is like riding a bicycle.

Unless you continue pedaling, you stop and fall.

More powerful firms go uphill on four wheels

and once they get to the top,

they have enough people to keep them going automatically.

But we don't have much power because we are small firm.

We need to keep pedaling without stopping.

So as long as I'm pedaling away,

my staff won't have any time for rest either.

(soft piano music)

(whimsical piano music)

(speaking foreign language)

You can't fight a way on your own.

You can't build a building on your own.

So I demand psychological and physical strength

from each member of my team.

And I demand the same thing of myself.

(speaking foreign language)

In order to build great buildings all over Japan,

we're constantly fighting these wars.

More than just functioning as a small group

of office workers, we act as a small group of guerrillas.

(speaking foreign language)

Each project is executed by one person

from my staff and myself, working as a team of two.

Thus when there are nine projects,

we have nine people on staff.

Although we have several part-time students,

the basic working unit is two people per project.

(speaking foreign language)

Once we start a project,

we don't have any rest until it's completed.

Nine people work hard and I also work hard

on nine projects at the same time.

(speaking foreign language)

There are always ups and downs in architecture.

Because I was successful with one project

doesn't mean my next one will be successful as well.

In fact, there's a pretty good chance

that it won't be as good, so you're always on the line.

(speaking foreign language)

Make sure you are at the site whenever you need to be.

If there is no one at the site,

it doesn't make a good impression on the client.

They might think that we are a bit strange

as a team of guerrillas

but they feel that they can trust us.

(speaking foreign language)

When a client and I have totally

different views about architecture,

we usually spend half a year discussing our differences.

During this time, I decide whether it is possible

to proceed to another stage of the project

or whether to decline the commission.

With seven out of 10 clients,

disagreements are never resolved.

When our differences cannot be resolved,

there's no point in continuing.

Some people have said that I eat architecture

in order to live, and that's why I don't get exhausted.

Perhaps I do eat architecture to live.

On the other hand, I feel sorry for my staff.

I am sure that they are very tired by now.

(speaking foreign language)

- [Hiroko's Translator] My husband is an architect

who designs office buildings.

At first, he thought that

he should design our house himself.

But because he was so busy at the time

and because we wanted to have the most beautiful house,

my husband chose to ask Mr. Ando.

(speaking foreign language)

- [Tadao's Translator] From the exterior,

the house is a simple structure,

a basic cube surrounded by walls.

(speaking foreign language)

The interior is a bit more complicated

because I had to provide a space

where three different families could live together

while maintaining their privacy.

This extended family includes Mr. and Mrs. Kidosaki,

Mr. Kidosaki's father, and Mrs. Kidosaki's mother,

and her younger sister.

In order to allow for privacy,

I placed many of the terraces on different levels.

There is one on the ground floor,

one of the first floor,

and another on the second floor.

The terraces provide the residents

with a relationship to nature.

Two large trees in this house are kept

as a memory from the pervious residents.

Different rooms have different views of these trees.

By sharing different views,

residents share their lives as well.

Here we are in one of the living rooms.

Another aspect of this house is

that the rooms have different spatial characteristics

which create rhythmic sequences.

For instance, the dining room has a low ceiling

while the living room has a very high ceiling.

Anything that you can touch, such as floors and furniture,

are all made from natural materials.

This is within the Japanese tradition.

This is another one of the living rooms.

The lower half is underground.

Next to this room is another dining room.

By placing these rooms in different directions,

I was able to create variations

of light and dark spaces,

a concept that has been neglected by modern architecture.

Beauty is felt in traditional Japanese architecture

when spaces are illuminated by small rays of light.

This living room is illuminated

by that same light coming in through the terrace.

Gentle light casts a shadow

of the trees on the terrace wall.

Nature is embodied in my architecture

in the form of light.

In this house, it is not the physical

or material aspects that are interesting

but the movement of nature through a space

that defines the architecture.

- [Hiroko's Translator] My husband's father is the owner

of this house, he was born and raised

in a traditional Japanese house on this site.

The house was in the middle of a garden

surrounded by a fence.

So when he saw this box-like structure,

he was so shocked that he couldn't say anything.

But since we moved in two years ago,

he has grown to like the house.

There is something very traditionally Japanese

about the way the space is treated.

It is very quiet and peaceful.

(train loudly rustling)

- [Tadao's Translator] When I was 19,

I discovered Le Corbusier by finding a book about him

in a secondhand bookstore in Osaka.

It was a lot of money for me at the time.

While I was saving up for it,

I used to check with the man at the bookshop

every three days to make sure the book was still there.

(speaking foreign language)

After I bought the book,

I traced the drawings of his early period so many times

that all the pages turned black.

Whenever I saw something or thought about something,

I always wondered how Le Corbusier

would have thought about the same thing.

If Le Corbusier had a chance to see my architecture,

he probably would have told me to be more free.

I think my architecture is quite restricted

because I try to create freedom through confinement.

(speaking foreign language)

I was born in Osaka in 1942.

Six months later, World War II began.

By the end of the war, there was little left of Osaka.

I was the eldest of twin boys

and because it was decided

that my maternal grandmother was to raise me,

I was given her name, Ando.

My grandmother had become

a successful merchant before the war

and her strong values influenced me a great deal.

Our first home was near the port of Osaka.

Later, we moved to another part of the city

where I live to this day.

Doing well in school was never

that important to my grandmother.

She gave me the freedom to do things on my own.

I was not a good student, I did not listen to my teachers.

I always preferred learning things

on my own outside of the classroom.

A master at the carpentry shop

across the street showed me how to make things.

He taught me how to carefully examined each step

of a process, first studying the materials,

and then collecting the right tools.

So at an early age, I learned to consider

all possibilities before starting a project.

I never worked for another architect.

Whenever I tried, I was fired within three days

because of my stubbornness and temper.

My first attempts at designing consisted

of small wooden houses, interiors, and furniture.

It was during the development of these small-scale projects

that I began to experiment with and formulate my ideas.

In the 1960s, I made several trips to Europe and America

to learn more about the architecture of the west.

(speaking foreign language)

These trips were all important to me.

Today, I still travel to look at architecture.

(speaking foreign language)

Here, I find myself at Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater

in Pennsylvania.

Being here makes me realize the importance

of an architect's imagination in siting a building.

This house is situated in harmony with nature,

incorporating the waterfall and the surrounding landscape.

In this work, nature and architecture interact

so effectively that it seems as if nature

and architecture are conversing with each other.

It's like having a river in your home.

When I was 17, I went to Tokyo for the first time

and saw Frank Lloyd Wright's Imperial Hotel.

I had never heard of Frank Lloyd Wright

and didn't know anything about the hotel.

But the power of fascination and attraction has little

to do with intellectual knowledge.

The Imperial Hotel was one of those buildings

that fascinated me and my curiosity took me inside.

The building had a very strong and mysterious power.

(speaking foreign language)

I felt something very Japanese in the architecture.

Since then, I have read that Wright was influenced

by the Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura

and this interested me very much.

Wright learned the most important aspect of architecture,

namely the treatment of space, from Japanese architecture.

(speaking foreign language)

At the Imperial Hotel,

I remember a dark narrow corridor

with an extremely low ceiling leading into a huge hall.

It was like walking through a cave.

That same sensibility of space is here at Fallingwater.

In contrast to what modern architecture sought,

a juxtaposition of a series of uniformed spaces,

Wright introduces a series of spaces

that are all quite different from one another.

The unity between nature and architecture is achieved here

so that it is like walking through a cave.

This is what I felt at the Imperial Hotel too.

The difference here at Fallingwater is that the elements

that I discovered at the Imperial Hotel are mixed

with the natural sound of birds, water, and wind,

and this appeals to me as an entity.

(cars softly rustling)

(speaking foreign language)

Japanese architecture relies very much

on craftsmen and carpenters.

You learn architecture with your body.

You draw your working drawings

and build while making changes at the site.

Craftsmanship is the essence of Japanese architecture.

(speaking foreign language)

Here will be a dome with exactly the same dimensions

of the Pantheon.

It will be made of glass blocks supported

by numerous columns.

It will mainly serve as a lobby

but will also function as an arena for fashion shows.

On my first trip to Europe,

I went to see Le Corbusier's

Unité d'Habitation in Marseille.

I was very intrigued by his dynamic use of concrete.

It was very rough.

My concrete construction does not involve

any special techniques.

Its color and texture depend on the quality of cement

and the balance of sand and pebble.

I prefer hard concrete because of its strength.

However, this is difficult to achieve.

The quality of the concrete construction

does not depend so much on the concrete mix itself,

but rather on the wooden formwork

in which the concrete is cast.

In Japan, because of the tradition of wooden architecture,

the craft level of carpentry is rather high.

The construction of wooden formwork,

where not a drop of water will escape

from the corners and seams,

depends upon this high quality of Japanese craftsmanship.

Quality concrete depends upon sufficient consolidation

and water-tight formwork.

Otherwise, holes will appear

and the surface will crack and disintegrate.

I really like the texture of concrete.

But concrete is not part

of the Japanese traditional sensibility.

Japanese houses are built with wood and paper.

It is a very sensitive and gentle architecture.

If you're used to Japanese architecture,

a space built with stone and concrete seems totally foreign.

(speaking foreign language)

My attitude towards concrete is to look

for a kind of concrete that is closer

in feeling to wood and paper,

to find a beautiful and sensuous concrete.

(speaking foreign language)

At the Koshino residence,

I was trying to approach the concrete

with the same sensibility as one approaches wood and paper.

This residence is located in Ashiya,

a fashionable suburb of Osaka.

Because it's adjacent to a national park,

it is surrounded by beautiful trees.

Since the site is so beautiful,

I designed the building so as not

to disturb the surroundings.

From the outside, it looks small,

but on the inside it is quite large.

From the outside, it looks as though it is only one story,

but on the inside, you will find two stories.

(speaking foreign language)

One aspect of my design was to situate the house on a slope.

(speaking foreign language)

You enter on the first floor

and go down these stores to the living room,

the kitchen, and dining area below.

(speaking foreign language)

Since one floor is below ground,

from this point here, you experience two separate floors.

Yoko Koshino is a fashion designer.

She gives lots of parties.

So this space has to accommodate large groups.

At the same time, it is used as her private living room.

(speaking foreign language)

Direct sunlight passes across this wall through slots,

then into the ceiling.

Here, I was influenced by the way

that light is used in western architecture.

(speaking foreign language)

At the Koshino residence,

the light in the space is two different qualities.

The gentle light that appears

on the side walls in the atelier,

and the straight and dynamic light

that penetrates in the cubic living room.

This dynamic light is rare in Japanese architecture.

If Yoko Koshino wants to go to her atelier,

she'll go through this passage,

allowing her to look at green on both sides.

Here we are entering the atelier

and light doesn't strike the wall directly,

but enters indirectly through another overhead slot.

Although this space is mostly underground,

you can still have a view of the sloping lawn outside.

From the outside, the house looks like two simple boxes.

But when you go inside, it's very complicated,

like a labyrinth.

Here, I'm going through an underground passage

connecting the living room to the bedroom wing.

The house is designed so as to combine darkness

and brightness with high and low ceilings

in order to create a rhythm.

If one lets light into architecture

in many different and subtle ways,

one can enjoy light watching.

(birds softly chirping)

(speaking foreign language) My clients often want to know

if I also live in a concrete house.

When I say that I actually live in a wooden house,

they're very surprised.

(cars softly rustling)

(speaking foreign language) I have lived in this tenement

since I was a child.

Some years ago, I added an upstairs space.

Environmental atmosphere is very important to me.

I am like an animal in a way.

My instinct is to come home.

Coming home means coming back here.

It is like my cave.

It would be nice to have a more spacious

and beautiful house, but it just wouldn't be the same.

In a way, my spirit will always be here.

My body wants to come home to my soul.

Although this house doesn't get much light,

I feel tremendous comfort here.

If there are two types of comfort,

namely physical and spiritual,

spiritual comfort can be sought in darkness

and physical comfort in light.

But I need both kinds of comfort.

I believe that darkness enriches your soul.

I am sorry that modern architecture

has eliminated this aspect.

We started construction on the first part

of Rokko Housing in 1978.

One of the main characteristics

of this project is its location

on a 60-degree slope in a suburb of Kobe.

I wanted my architecture to enhance the beauty

of the surrounding nature.

Of all my projects, Rokko Housing represents some

of my ideas most clearly.

It is a combination

of 20 simple 18-by-18-foot structural bays.

(speaking foreign language)

Despite this repetitive module,

each apartment layout is unique.

I have tried to reinsert certain concepts

which were forgotten by the modernists

such as a concern for the attributes

of a given place or region and the need to maintain

two entirely different concepts at the same time,

universal technology on the one hand,

and the peculiarities of a particular site on the other.

While the 20 units seemed the same on the outside,

within, they are completely different.

(speaking foreign language)

From the exterior, the entire structure seems

to be embedded into the slope of the hill,

as if it were destroying the surrounding nature.

Once you're within the complex,

nature enters at the sides of the central piazza

which is situated at the midpoint of the inclined stairway.

This space also attempts

to combine traditional western square

with the narrow street space of a Japanese town.

I think that this is one of my most important works.

(speaking foreign language)

We are now working on Rokko Housing Part 2.

My main intention is to develop certain ideas

that were inhibited by the more formal concerns

in the original Rokko Housing.

The adaption of an open frame

rather than crosswalk construction liberates

the planning of the internal spaces.

There will be 50 units altogether.

The scale is four times larger than Rokko 1.

A large green is planned for the space

between the two sections of the Rokko Housing.

This is to be shared by all the residents.

We will also build a long stairway outside.

The elevator runs underneath these stairs.

On a nice day, the stairs provide not only a beautiful view,

but also healthy exercise.

As in all my projects, my concern goes

beyond the building itself to a consideration

of the surrounding landscape.

I've always been interested in how architecture

and the environment enhance each other.

I have been fortunate in being able to observe

how Rokko Housing has interacted over the years

with its immediate environment.

(speaking foreign language)

Now that we get many large commissions,

I like spending some time making changes in my office.

The small-scale work is very important to me,

especially when I am consumed by larger projects.

My inclination towards smaller projects perhaps comes

from my experience of knowing the joy

of intimately working on a small scale.

It helps me clarify my ideas.

(speaking foreign language)

In this instance,

we rented a small wooden house of about 350 square feet,

close to this office, and built a tea house within it.

(speaking foreign language)

Tea houses usually require

the best quality building materials

in terms of wood, paper, and so forth.

But I was more interested in building a modern tea house

using unorthodox materials.

My main intention was to create a small

but interesting space, the kind of space

that you've never experienced before.

(speaking foreign language)

Eventually, I would like to make a tea house

underground, covered with earth.

When I'm 55, I think I will have reached my creative peak

in terms of physical energy.

After that, I would like to gradually decrease

the scale of my projects.

If one's creative life ends in the mid 70s,

at that time, I would like to go back

to designing smaller houses, just like my first project.

I'd like to keep the momentum going of my basic ideas

that were expressed in those early projects.

I'd like to create space that provides a balance

for one's physical comfort and spiritual enrichment.

(speaking foreign language)

As I said before, we are creating an army of guerrillas.

Guerrillas always face destruction in the end

like the kamikaze in World War II.

In our case, we will continue fighting

until all our guerrillas are destroyed.

We will continue to fight physically

and psychologically without stopping.

Continuation means to make progress.

While making progress, we will naturally encounter a barrier

and one of us might be blown to pieces.

When all our guerrillas have fallen,

we will close our office.

Destruction is also a condition of creation.

(car rustling)

(rain softly tapping)