SANAA

Total Projects from SANAA: 4

KAZUYO SEJIMA AND RYUE NISHIZAWA, SANAA

Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, principals of the Tokyo-based architecture firm SANAA, have received accolades internationally for work that is luminous and deceptively simple in its aesthetics; sophisticated in its treatment of complex building detail and fluid, non-hierarchical space; and highly original in its use of exterior facades as permeable membranes that establish subtle but provocative relationships between interior and exterior, individual and community, and the realms of public and private experience. In Japan, the firm has completed numerous critically acclaimed commercial and institutional buildings, community centers, homes and museums. Among these are the jewel-like private O Museum in Nagano (1999) N Museum in Wakayama (1997), and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan (2005). The firm’s tall, ethereal building in Tokyo for Dior opened in December 2003.

In recent years SANAA has enjoyed growing international attention, resulting in major commissions across Asia, Europe and the United States. Among recently completed buildings are the Kunstlinie Theatre and Cultural Centre, Almere, Netherlands (2007), the firm’s first performing arts center, and the Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, Ohio (2006). Other SANAA projects currently underway are the Valencia Institute of Modern Art (IVAM) expansion in Valencia, Spain; the Zollverein School of Management and Design, Essen, Germany; the Novartis Office Building, Basel, Switzerland; a satellite of the Louvre Museum for Lens, France; EPFL Learning Center, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Both Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa have been visiting lecturers at Princeton University and Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, and have presented their work extensively throughout the United States and Europe. Their building designs have been included in numerous exhibitions, including The Museum of Modern Art’s widely acclaimed survey “Un-Private Houses.”

Sejima studied architecture at the Japan Women's University before going to work for the celebrated architect Toyo Ito. She launched her own practice in 1987 and was named Young Architect of the Year in Japan in 1992.
Nishizawa studied architecture at Yokohama National University and, in addition to his work with Sejima, has maintained an independent practice since 1997.
The architects have worked collaboratively in the partnership of SANAA—Sejima And
Nishizawa And Associates—since 1995.

website: www.sanaa.co.jp

Featured Projects

	21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art Address: 1-2-1 Hirosaka , KANAZAWA - Japan Architect: SANAA Category: Cultural \| Museums



	Christian Dior Omotesando Address: 5-9-11 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku , TOKYO - Japan Architect: SANAA Category: Commercial



	New Museum Address: 235 Bowery , NEW YORK - United States Architect: SANAA Category: Museums \| Cultural



	Rolex Learning Center Address: Route des Noyerettes , LAUSANNE - Switzerland Architect: SANAA Category: Education