Beyoncé and Jay-Z certainly gasped last week when news broke that the couple splashed out a cool $200 million to buy a luxury home in Malibu — breaking a California home sale record.
But that doesn’t mean social media users are totally in awe of the look of the property, which was designed by 81-year-old Tadao Ando – a Pritzker Prize-winning architect who ranks among one of the discipline’s most respected names .
“All the charm of an empty Costco distribution center,” said one critic on Twitter of the striking concrete structure – concrete is Ando’s signature material in his rare designs.
“They could have just bought a prison because it looks identical.” remarked another. “Saved money too!”
The family’s new SoCal spread sits on 8 acres in the famously affluent beach enclave. They occupy a whopping 42,000 square feet and bought it from Bill Bell, one of the world’s greatest art collectors.
On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported that houses designed by Ando – who is based in Osaka, Japan – are extremely rare with a cult following. Recently popular among the A-list, with clientele also including Kim Kardashian and her ex-husband Kanye West, there are fewer than 20 Ando-designed homes in the US.
In addition, the Journal notes, West had wanted to buy this Malibu home for himself last year for a higher amount — until his outlandish behavior and anti-Semitic remarks derailed his earnings.
(Still, West owns another Ando home nearby, which he got for $57.25 million in 2021. Kardashian recently visited Ando’s Japan office to finalize the design of her Palm Desert, California, home before it goes off the shelf). ground.)
The Journal added that, because of Ando’s famous touch with reinforced architectural concrete, the construction is often much more expensive than that of an ordinary house – and that clients must go to great lengths to see the finished product reach completion. Bell and his wife Maria spent 12 years building their now former home.
But the artistry of one seems like an eyesore to the other, at least on Twitter.
“They really spent $200 million on prison walls,” kvetched a userwith another saying: “Looks like a mausoleum.”
“WW2 Bunker?” said another.
