Kazuyo Sejima
Kazuyo Sejima is a Japanese architect. She is known for designs with clean modernist elements such as slick, clean, and shiny surfaces made of glass, marble, and metals. She also uses squares and cubes, which can be found in her designs in various degrees. Large windows allow natural light to enter a space and create a fluid transition between interior and exterior. It is this connection of two spaces from which she draws her inspiration.
Kazuyo Sejima, along with and Ryue Nishizawa, 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 glass and public open space to interact with the world around the architecture. Such design elements can be found abundantly in their designs.
In 2010, Sejima was the second woman to receive the Pritzker Prize, which was awarded jointly with Ryue Nishizawa.
Early life and education
Sejima was born on 29 October 1956 at 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.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. After working for Sejima for several years, Sejima asked him to form a partnership. In 1995, the two founded the Tokyo-based firm SANAA. 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. In 2010, she was awarded the Pritzker Prize, together with Ryue Nishizawa.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 for 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.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.
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, sequence of 1:200 scale models were produced for the schematic design phase and photographed. Two periods of proposal production, 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.
Projects by Kazuyo Sejima and Associates
- Platform I Vacation House – 1987 to 1988 – Chiba Prefecture, Japan
- Platform II Studio – 1988 to 1990 – Kitakoma-gun, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan
- Platform III House – 1989 to 1990 – Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan
- Europalia Japan Transfiguration – 1989 – Bruxelles, Belgium
- 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
- N House – 1990 to 1992 – Kumamoto, Japan
- An Apartment Building – 1991 – Osaka, Japan
- Nasumoahara Harmony Hall – 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 – 1993 – Tomobe, Ibaraki Prefecture
- Reengineering – 1993 – Minato-ku, Tokyo
- Y House – 1993 to 1994 – Chiba, Japan
- Police box outside Chofu Station – 1993 to 1994 – Tokyo, Japan
- World City Expo Tokyo – 1995 – Koto-ku, Tokyo
- Service Center at the Tokyo Expo 96 – 1994 to 1995 – Tokyo, Japan
- Yokohama International Port Terminal – 1994 – Kanagawa, Japan
- Gifu Kitagata Apartment Building – 1994 to 2000 – Gifu, Japan
- Pachinko Parlor III – 1995 to 1996 – Ibaraki, Japan
- U Office Building – 1996 to 1998 – Ibaraki, Japan
- Multimedia Workshop – 1996 – Ogaki, Gifu Prefecture
- N-Museum – 1997– Nakahechi, Nishimuro-gun, Wakayama Prefecture
- M-House – 1997– Tokyo
- K-Building – 1997– Hitachi, Ibaraki Prefecture
- Gifu Kitagata Apartment – 1998– Kitagata, Motosu-gun, Gifu Prefecture
- Park Cafe – 1998– Koga, Ibaraki Prefecture
- O-Museum – 1998– Iida, Nagano Prefecture
- Small House – 1999 to 2000 – Tokyo, Japan
- Kozankaku Student Residence – 1999 to 2000 – Ibaraki, Japan
- hhstyle.com Store – 1999 to 2000 – Tokyo, Japan
- Asahi Shimbun Yamagata Office Building – 2000 to 2002 – Yamagata, Japan
- House in a Plum Grove – 2001 to 2003 – Tokyo, Japan
- Onishi Civic Center – 2003 to 2005 – Gunma, Japan
- :nl:Schouwburg Almere|Theater and Artscentre- 2007 – Almere, The Netherlands
- New Museum - 2010- New York City, United States
- Shibaura House - 2011 - Tokyo, Japan
- Louvre-Lens - 2012 - Lens, France
- Grace Farms - 2015 - 365 Lukes Wood Rd, New Canaan, CT 06840, United States
- Sumida Hokusai Museum - 2016 - Tokyo, Japan
- New limited express trains for Seibu Railway, 2018, Japan
Honors and recognition
- 1988 – Kashima Prize, SD Review 1988
- 1989 – Yosioka Prize, The Japan Architect
- 1989 – Special Prize for Residential Architecture, Tokyo Architecture Association
- 1990 – SD Prize, SD Review
- 1992 – Young Architect of the Year, Japan Institute of Architects
- 1992 – Second Prize, Commercial Space Design Award
- 1994 – Grand Prize, Commercial Space Design Award ’94
- 1995 – Kenneth F. Brown Asia Pacific Culture and Architecture Design Award, University of Hawaii 98oi
- 2006 – Japan Architecture Award
- 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
- 1998 – Prize of Architectural Institute of Japan, Tokyo, Japan
- 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
- 2005 – Rolf Schock Prize in Visual Arts, Sweden
- 2006 – Prize of Architectural Institute of Japan, Tokyo, Japan
- 2007 – Premio Mario Pani 2007, Mexico City, Mexico
- 2007 – Kunstpreis Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- 2010 – Pritzker Architecture Prize 2010, U.S.A.
Professorship