Kazuyo Sejima

Kazuyo Sejima
Sejima in September 2014
Born	(1956-10-29) 29 October 1956 (age 64) Hitachi, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan
Nationality	Japanese
Occupation	Architect
Awards	Kajima Prize 1988 Yosioka Prize 1989 Special Prize for Residential Architecture 1989 SD Prize 1990 Commercial Space Design Award, Second Prize 1992 Young Architect of the Year 1992 Commercial Space Design Award 1994 Kenneth F. Brown Pacific Culture and Architecture Design Award 1995 Schelling Architekturpreis 2000 Rolf Schock Prize 2005 Pritzker Prize 2010
Practice	Kazuyo Sejima and Associates (1987–1995) SANAA (since 1995)

Kazuyo Sejima (妹島 和世, Sejima Kazuyo, born 29 October 1956) is a Japanese architect. She is known for designs with clean modernist elements such as shiny surfaces, squares and cubes. Along with and Ryue Nishizawa, she has worked on several projects in Germany, Switzerland, France, England, the Netherlands, United States, and Spain. Many of their designs like the Rolex Learning Center at EPFL the New Museum in the Bowery District in New York City as well as the Glass Pavilion for the Toledo Museum of Art involve large windows and public open space to interact with the world around the architecture. In 2010, Sejima was the second woman to receive the Pritzker Prize, which was awarded jointly with Nishizawa.^[1]

Early life and education[]

Sejima was born on 29 October 1956 in Mito, Ibaraki, Japan. She graduated from Japan Women's University in 1979. She then went on to complete the Master's Degree course in architecture in 1981. In the same year, she began working with the architecture firm Toyo Ito and Associates until 1987.^[2]

Career[]

After apprenticing with Toyo Ito, Sejima established Kazuyo Sejima & Associates in 1987. One of her first hires was Ryue Nishizawa, a student who had worked with Sejima at Toyo Ito and Associates.^[3] After working for Sejima for several years, Sejima asked him to form a partnership. In 1995, the two founded the Tokyo-based firm SANAA (Sejima and Nishizawa and Associates).^[4] In 2010, Sejima was appointed director of architecture sector for the Venice Biennale, which she curated for the 12th Annual International Architecture Exhibition. She was the first woman ever selected for this position.^[5] In 2010, she was awarded the Pritzker Prize, together with Ryue Nishizawa.^[6]

Approach[]

Sejima's work tends to incorporate materials such as glass or slick surfaces such as marble. Her buildings mainly display an arrange of curves within the architecture of the building as well as on the surface. Kazuyo successfully combines the building with the surrounding areas. The use of a lot of sheer glasses and clear glass is used, allowing natural light to enter a space and create a fluid transition between interior and exterior. It lets a person to look at the outdoors, while also looking at themselves and the reflections the outside world creates on the inside of the building.^[7][8]

Sejima intentionally overturns outmoded stereotypical housing models as they are based on assumptions instead of reality. These assumptions include housing models that illustrate the proper living condition for a nuclear family, etc. Her idea is not to initiate a complete rejection to tradition, but rather to challenge the conventional process of design. Instead of unconsciously applying assumptions to a design, she tries to confront them consciously as best as she can. She thinks it is impossible to let a building completely based on a fictional idea or theory of what something should be.^[9]

Sejima redefines the "design process" as "process designs". Processes are documented, accumulation of design operations are taken into account rather than gradually refine a single design idea towards the final stage. During the design process of Hokusai Museum in Sumida Ward (Tokyo), sequence of 1:200 scale models were produced for the schematic design phase and photographed. Two periods of proposal production (21 days), materials used, elaboration dates, and the date when meeting were held were all in the record as part of the justification of the design process.^[10]

Projects by Kazuyo Sejima and Associates / by SANAA[]

• Platform I Vacation House – 1987 to 1988 – Chiba Prefecture, Japan
• Platform II Studio – 1988 to 1990 – Kitakoma-gun, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan
• Platform III House (Not built/project only) – 1989 to 1990 – Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan
• Europalia Japan Transfiguration (Exhibit design) – 1989 – Bruxelles, Belgium^[2]
• Castelbajac Sports Store – 1990 to 1991 – Kanagawa, Japan
• Saishunkan Seiyaku Women's Dormitory – 1990 to 1991 – Kumamoto, Japan
• Prototype of the Apartmenthouse I – 1991 – Suita, Osaka^[2]
• N House – 1990 to 1992 – Kumamoto, Japan
• An Apartment Building (Not built/project only) – 1991 – Osaka, Japan
• Nasumoahara Harmony Hall (Not built/project only) – 1991 – Tochigi, Japan
• Pachinko Parlor I – 1991 to 1993 – Ibaraki, Japan
• Villa in the Forest – 1992 to 1994 – Nagano, Japan
• Pachinko Parlor II – 1993 – Ibaraki, Japan
• Berio Corina Tomobe (Project) – 1993 – Tomobe, Ibaraki Prefecture^[2]
• Reengineering ( Exhibition Design) – 1993 – Minato-ku, Tokyo^[2]
• Y House – 1993 to 1994 – Chiba, Japan
• Police box outside Chofu Station – 1993 to 1994 – Tokyo, Japan
• World City Expo Tokyo (Project) – 1995 – Koto-ku, Tokyo^[2]
• Service Center at the Tokyo Expo 96 (Not built/project only) – 1994 to 1995 – Tokyo, Japan
• Yokohama International Port Terminal (Not built/project only) – 1994 – Kanagawa, Japan
• Gifu Kitagata Apartment Building – 1994 to 2000 – Gifu, Japan
• Pachinko Parlor III – 1995 to 1996 – Ibaraki, Japan
• Multimedia Workshop – 1995 to 1996 – Gifu, Japan^[2] *as SANAA
• S-House – 1996 to 1997 – Okayama, Japan *as SANAA
• U Office Building – 1996 to 1998 – Ibaraki, Japan
• N-Museum – 1997– Nakahechi, Nishimuro-gun, Wakayama Prefecture^[2] *as SANAA
• M-House – 1997– Tokyo^[2] *as SANAA
• K-Building – 1997– Hitachi, Ibaraki Prefecture^[2] *as SANAA
• Day Care Center – 1997 to 2000 – Kanazawa, Japan *as SANAA
• Gifu Kitagata Apartment – 1998– Kitagata, Motosu-gun, Gifu Prefecture^[2]
• Koga Park Cafe – 1998– Koga, Ibaraki, Japan ^[2] *as SANAA
• O-Museum – 1999– Iida, Nagano Prefecture^[2] *as SANAA
• Small House – 1999 to 2000 – Tokyo, Japan
• Kozankaku Student Residence – 1999 to 2000 – Ibaraki, Japan
• hhstyle.com Store – 1999 to 2000 – Tokyo, Japan
• La Biennale di Venezia, 7th International Architecture Exhibition "City of girls" Japanese Pavilion – 2000– Venice, Italy *as SANAA
• PRADA Beauty Prototype – 2000– *as SANAA
• Asahi Shimbun Yamagata Office Building – 2000 to 2002 – Yamagata, Japan
• PRADA Beauty LEEGARDEN Hong Kong – 2001– Hong Kong, China *as SANAA
• Garden Cafe at the 7th International Istanbul Biennale – 2001– Istanbul, Turkey *as SANAA
• House in a Plum Grove – 2001 to 2003 – Tokyo, Japan
• ISSEY MIYAKE by NAOKI TAKIZAWA – 2003– Tokyo, Japan *as SANAA
• Christian Dior Building Omotesando – 2003– Tokyo, Japan *as SANAA
• Onishi Civic Center – 2003 to 2005 – Gunma, Japan
• 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art Kanazawa – 2004– Kanazawa Japan *as SANAA
• Zollverein School of management and design – 2006– Essen, Germany *as SANAA
• The Toledo Museum of Art Glass Pavilion – 2006– Toledo, Ohio, USA *as SANAA
• Novartis Campus WSJ-158 Office Building – 2006– Basel, Switzerland *as SANAA
• Theater and Artscentre (Stadstheater Almere 'De Kunstlinie') – 2007 – Almere, The Netherlands *as SANAA
• New Museum - 2007- New York City, United States *as SANAA
• Derek Lam NY, shop interior (Crosby Street), – 2009 – New York, USA *as SANAA
• Serpentine Pavilion – 2009 – London, England *as SANAA
• Rolex Learning Center, EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne) – 2009 – Lausanne, Switzerland *as SANAA
• Derek Lam NY, shop interior (Madison Avenue) – 2010 – USA *as SANAA
• Shibaura House - 2011 - Tokyo, Japan
• Shakujii Apartment – 2010 – Tokyo, Japan *as SANAA
• Louvre-Lens – 2012 – Lens, France *as SANAA
• Home-for-All Higashimatsushima City Miyato Island – 2012 – Miyagi, Japan *as SANAA
• Vitra Factory Building – 2013 – Weil am Rhein, Germany *as SANAA
• Okayama University Junko Fukutake Hall – 2013 – Okayama, Japan *as SANAA
• Okayama University Pergola – 2014 – Okayama, Japan *as SANAA
• Home-for-All Miyato Island Tsukihama – 2014 –Miyagi, Japan *as SANAA
• Grace Farms - 2015 - 365 Lukes Wood Rd, New Canaan, CT 06840, United States *as SANAA

Japan

• Sumida Hokusai Museum - 2016 - Tokyo, Japan
• Naoshima Port - 2016 - Okayama, Japan *as SANAA
• Shogin TACT Tsuruoka – 2017 – Yamagata, Japan *as SANAA
• Laview (New limited express trains for Seibu Railway), – 2017 – Japan^[11]
• Apartments on Ave. Maréchal Fayolle – 2018 – Paris, France *as SANAA
• Hitachi City Hall – 2019 – Ibaraki, Japan *as SANAA
• Japan Women’s University Mejiro Campus, Library – 2019 – Tokyo, Japan

Honors and recognition[]

Kazuyo Sejima

• 1988 – Kashima Prize, SD Review 1988 (for Platform I, Platform II)
• 1989 – Yosioka Prize, The Japan Architect (for Platform I)
• 1989 – Special Prize for Residential Architecture, Tokyo Architecture Association^[2]
• 1990 – SD Prize, SD Review^[2]
• 1992 – Young Architect of the Year, Japan Institute of Architects (for Saishunkan Seiyaku Women’s Dormitory)
• 1992 – Second Prize, Commercial Space Design Award^[2]
• 1994 – Grand Prize, Commercial Space Design Award ’94 (for Pachinko Parlor I, Pachino Parlor II)
• 1995 – Kenneth F. Brown Asia Pacific Culture and Architecture Design Award, University of Hawaii (for Saishunkan Seiyaku Women’s Dormitory) 98oi^[2]
• 2006 – Japan Architecture Award (for House in Plum Grove)
• 2007 – International Fellowship of RIBA/Royal Institute of British Architects
• 2009 – StellaRe Prize, Turin, Italy
• 2009 – Erna Hamburger Prize, Lausanne, Switzerland
• 2009 – Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France
• 2019 – Prix Versailles World Judge^{[12][citation needed]}

SANAA

• 1998 – Prize of Architectural Institute of Japan, Tokyo, Japan (for Multimedia Workshop, Ogaki, Gifu)
• 2000 – Erich Schelling Architecture Prize, Kalsruhe, Germany
• 2002 – Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture, American Academy of Arts & Letters, New York
• 2002 – Architecture Award of Salzburg Vincenzo Scamozzi, Salzburg, Austria
• 2004 – Golden Lion for the Most Remarkable Work in the Exhibition Metamorph in the 9th International Architecture Exhibition, la Biennale di Venezia
• 2005 – 46th Mainichi Newspapers Arts Award, Architecture Category (for 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa)
• 2005 – Rolf Schock Prize in Visual Arts, Sweden
• 2006 – Prize of Architectural Institute of Japan, Tokyo, Japan (for 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa)
• 2007 – Premio Mario Pani 2007 (Mario Pani Award), Mexico City, Mexico
• 2007 – Kunstpreis Berlin (Berlin Art Prize), Berlin, Germany
• 2010 – Pritzker Architecture Prize 2010, U.S.A.

Professorship[]

Sejima teaches as a Visiting Professor, both at Tama Art University and Japan Women's University in Tokyo. In Vienna she leads an architectural design studio^[13] at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, where she succeeded Zaha Hadid in 2015. From 2005 to 2008, together with Nishizawa, she held the Jean Labatut Professorship at the School of Architecture at Princeton University, where she also served on the advisory council for several years.^{[citation needed]} Kazuyo Sejima has also taught at the Polytechnique de Lausanne and Keio University.

See also[]

• Women in architecture

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kazuyo Sejima.

• SANAA Official Website (in Japanese)
• Kazuyo Sejima appointed as Director of the Architecture Sector for the Biennale di Venezia.^{[permanent dead link]}
• STORIES OF HOUSES: House in a Plum Grove (Tokyo), by Kazuyo Sejima
• 2010 Pritzker prize
• Ryue Nishizawa and Kazuyo Sejima win 2010 Pritzker Architecture Prize fastcompany.com
• The world's most anticipated architecture: Rolex learning center^{[permanent dead link]}
• Inventing new hierarchies
• Gallery MA (2003). Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA Works 1995–2003^{[permanent dead link]}. Toto Shuppan. ISBN 978-4-88706-224-5
• GA (2005). Sejima Kazuyo + Nishizawa Ryue Dokuhon. A.D.A. Edita. ISBN 4-87140-662-8
• GA (2005). GA ARCHITECT 18 Sejima Kazuyo + Nishizawa Ryue. A.D.A. Edita. ISBN 4-87140-426-9
• Yuko Hasegawa (2005). Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA, . ISBN 978-88-370-3919-6
• Yuko Hasegawa (2006). Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa: SANAA. Phaidon Press. ISBN 978-1-904313-40-3
• Agustin Perez Rubio (2007). SANAA Houses: Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa. . ISBN 978-84-96540-70-5
• Joseph Grima and Karen Wong (Eds) (2008) Shift: SANAA and the New Museum. Lars Müller Publishers. ISBN 978-3-03778-140-1
• Thomas Daniell (2008). After the Crash: Architecture in Post-Bubble Japan. Princeton Architectural Press. ISBN 978-1-56898-776-7
• New Museum