Archinect - News

Phyllis Lambert and Kazuyo Sejima win 2023 Jane Drew and Ada Louise Huxtable Prizes

2023-01-30T13:40:00-05:00

Influential Canadian architect Phyllis Lambert and SANAA co-founder Kazuyo Sejima have been named as this year's respective winners of the Jane Drew and Ada Louise Huxtable prizes by the UK-based publications Architects’ Journal and The Architectural Review as part of the annual W Awards program, now in its 11th year.

Lambert was awarded the Ada Louise Huxtable Prize for her influence on the culture of architecture. Her early work with Mies van der Rohe on New York’s Seagram Building has been well documented, along with the influence spread throughout her native country after founding the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) in Montreal in 1979. Her influence is still widely felt today in both countries. As AR’s Deputy Editor Eleanor Beaumont said, Lambert encourages us to “always be curious.”

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Phyllis Lambert with the model for the Seagram Building New York, 1955. Photo © Fonds Phyllis Lambert.

Sejima, the 2010 winner of the Pritzker Prize along with S...

SANAA's Art Gallery of New South Wales expansion will deliver the city's largest cultural commission in 50 years

2022-05-05T12:59:00-04:00

SANAA has released renderings and added a new opening date for their expansion of Sydney’s Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW).

Touted as the city’s largest cultural development since the dramatic opening of its Opera House nearly 50 years ago, the Sydney Modern Project entails the creation of two new buildings connected by a public garden and will make its public debut on December 3rd.

Image: Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA © Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2021

The expansion will increase the institution’s gallery spaces by almost double from 96,875 to 172,222 square feet, including a new 23,680-square-foot underground gallery which was repurposed from a decommissioned World War II-era oil tank. Overall, 70% of the new gallery is being constructed above existing structures.

Per SANAA, sustainable design initiatives include over 16,000 square feet of photovoltaic cells covering the Entranc...

The 2021 Venice Biennale announces its International jury

2021-05-17T21:08:00-04:00

News of this year's Venice Biennale exhibitions, awards presentations, and pavilions has kept the architecture and design community busy with anticipation. On May 13, the Board of Directors of La Biennale di Venezia announced its 17th International jury members. Each recommended by the Biennale's curator Hashim Sarkis this year's jury will be led by esteemed architect and Pritzker Prize winner Kazuyo Sejima of SANAA.

Sejima is joined by Sandra Barclay, Lamia Joreige, Lesley Lokko, and Luca Molinari. The jury will be responsible for awarding the Biennale's official prizes: The Golden Lion for best National Participation, Golden Lion for the best participant in the International Exhibition, and Silver Lion for a promising young participant in the International Exhibition. In addition to the official prizes, the Jury "may also award a maximum of one special mention to National Participations and a maximum of two special mentions to the participants in the International Exhibition How ...

For S/S 2019, Prada asked female architects to redesign their iconic nylon bag

2019-04-08T20:44:00-04:00

Prada is no stranger to working with highly acclaimed architects. The Milanese fashion house's longstanding partnership with the Rem Koolhaas-led architecture firm OMA, who have helped them with boutiques, branding studies, films, digital products, and other projects, has been one of the industry's strongest alliances.

So, when looking for designers to reinterpret their most iconic item, the black nylon handbag, it is no surprise they turned to some of the field's biggest and brightest. In their latest interpretation of the material, Prada asked leading female architects Cini Boeri, Elizabeth Diller and Kazuyo Sejima to create unique pieces in the brand's signature nylon fabric, first debuted by Miuccia Prada in 1984.

The collaboration is part of their Prada Invites project, which last year invited Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Konstantin Grcic, Herzog & de Meuron and Rem Koolhaas to respond to a similar prompt. While the four men sent a printed t-shirt, front pack, portfolio case a...

“Prada Invites” project collaborates with Elizabeth Diller, Kazuyo Sejima, and Cini Boeri

2018-09-21T14:00:00-04:00

As the second installment of the “Prada Invites” series, Kazuyo Sejima, Elizabeth Diller and Cini Boeri all worked with the Italian label to create designs from the classic Prada Nylon. “Prada Invites” is intended to look at the intersectionality of design, leading to conversations and collaborations between different design disciplines.

Junya Ishigami: imagining other architectures

2018-04-04T13:52:00-04:00

Freed from the conventions of architecture and construction, what would this world look like? It’s a question Japanese architect Junya Ishigami has been trying to answer for the past decade, dreaming of structures that are as light as a cloud, as vast as the sky, as random as the trees in a forest or the stars in the sky.

Glass Pavilion, Park Groot Vijversburg, NL. Image: junya.ishigami+associates.

The Guardian's architecture critic, Oliver Wainwright, takes a closer at the fascinating work of Junya Ishigami, the bright new star on the Japanese architecture firmament, who is catching more and more mainstream attention with substantial commissions around the world. "[...] it’s tempting to close your eyes and fall under the spell of one of the most original minds in a generation – and be transported to a place where other architectures are possible," Wainwright writes.

Kazuyo Sejima joins Pritzker Prize jury

2018-01-30T14:42:00-05:00

The Hyatt Foundation today announced the appointment of Kazuyo Sejima as the newest member of the Pritzker Architecture Prize jury.

Sejima herself is a Pritzker laureate and received the prestigious recognition in 2010 alongside her SANAA co-founding partner Ryue Nishizawa.

"I am looking forward to working with my colleagues on the jury and supporting the mission of the Pritzker Prize," Sejima commented on the appointment.

Grace Farms “River” building in New Canaan, CT by SANAA. Photo: Iwan Baan.

The Pritzker Prize jury for 2018, the accolade's 40th anniversary, also includes:

Jury Chair Glenn Murcutt, architect and 2002 Pritzker Laureate, Sydney, Australia
Stephen Breyer, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Washington, D.C., USA
André Corrêa do Lago, architectural critic, curator, and Brazilian Ambassador to Japan, Tokyo, Japan
The Lord Palumbo, architectural patron, Chairman Emeritus of the Trustees, Serpentine Galleries, London, United Kingdom
Richard Rogers, architect and 2007 Pritzker Laur...

Kazuyo Sejima envisions "camouflaged" design for Seibu's new bullet train

2016-03-15T18:20:00-04:00

Working with [Seibu Group's] design team, [Sejima] has proposed a concept for [their] 'Red Arrow' series that would be one with the environment, melding into the background as it travels through city and countryside. The plan represents a sharp deviation from train designs of the past, which have emphasized a bold, striking look through slick lines and bright colors. In contrast, Sejima has chosen keywords like 'friendly' and 'soft' to define her new vision for express trains in Japan.

SANAA's meandering "River" community center opens to the public

2015-10-09T15:15:00-04:00

Within the green open spaces of Grace Farms in New Canaan, Connecticut stands the new arts and community center, the River, which finally opened its doors to the public today. The Grace Farms Foundation selected SANAA to design the building in 2010, not long before Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa won the Pritzker Prize that year. SANAA first revealed their design in 2012.

The new 83,000-square foot structure consists of transparent-walled multi-functional volumes and covered walkways that wind down the park's rolling terrain, hence its River name. Its milky exterior complements the nearby woodlands and meadows at Grace Farms, while the clear glass walls show off the surrounding community gardens, athletic fields, and trails that SANAA designed in collaboration with OLIN. Fifty-five 500-foot-deep geothermal walls heat and cool the building.

The River's scheme boasts a 20,900 sq.ft. indoor amphitheater; a staffed library; a Commons dining and living room that can accommodate up to 300 ...

SANAA chosen to design NSW Art Gallery expansion

2015-05-27T14:04:00-04:00

Pritzker Prize laureates Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA were revealed today as the winners of an international competition to design the AUD$450 million expansion of the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Australia. As part of the Sydney Modern Project, the expansion will upgrade the existing building into a global cultural landmark that connects the Gallery, the Royal Botanic Gardens and the Domain, the city, and Sydney Harbor.

SANAA scored the commission out of 12 notable shortlisters like Kengo Kuma, David Chipperfield, Herzog & de Meuron, Tod Williams and Billie Tsien Architects, and Renzo Piano Building Workshop, to name a few.

SANAA incorporated the gallery site's surrounding topography and climate in their design, which features cascading platforms of sandstone and glass. The expansion will double the size of the 23,000 sq.m. gallery and will include new educational facilities, spaces for live performances and films, open exhibition spaces, and reintroduce natural day...

Hadid and Japanese at loggerheads over ‘turtle-like’ Olympic stadium

2014-12-10T13:59:00-05:00

“They don’t want a foreigner to build in Tokyo for a national stadium. On the other hand, they all have work abroad. Whether it’s Sejima, Toyo Ito, or Maki or Isozaki or Kengo Kuma.” Last month Isozaki, 83, wrote an open letter to the Japan Sports Council, the government body in charge of plans for the 2020 Games, in which he attacked the “distorted” process that has led to “a dull, slow form”.

Previously

SANAA's Grace Farms River project to open in fall 2015

2014-11-19T19:31:00-05:00

SANAA's River project in the upcoming Grace Farms in New Canaan, CT will finally celebrate its grand opening next fall. The non-profit Grace Farms Foundation developed Grace Farms as an open public park for the local community, whereas the SANAA-designed building will be used for various community programs and recreation.

After an international search, the Foundation selected SANAA in 2010 to design the structure -- not long before the firm won the 2010 Pritzker Prize. SANAA then revealed their design of the River in 2012.

Reminiscent of SANAA's 2009 Serpentine Pavilion, the River building evidently gets its name from the way it meanders through the park's greenery. The 86,000 sq.ft structure is made of glass, concrete, steel, and wood, and is essentially connected by a single roof that appears to float approximately 10-14 feet above the ground. From an aerial view, the roof's water-like appearance allows the project to blend in with the surrounding landscape, which SANAA designed in ...

Kazuyo Sejima of SANAA lectures at GSAPP

2014-09-22T16:47:00-04:00

This past Wednesday, Kazuyo Sejima of SANAA addressed an overflowing Wood Auditorium, giving the first GSAPP lecture of the semester. Recently appointed dean Amale Andraos gave a brief introduction of Sejima and returned at the end of the lecture to lead a discussion as well as the Q/A portion of the evening.

Sejima began her lecture by explaining her choice of “Canopy” as her theme, an idea that is central to her, both as a part of SANAA and independently. “I like to make a space like a park, because a park is a place where different kind of people can gather,” stated Sejima, describing her desire to create an architecture that allows diverse groups of people to come together to both share and create their own space. By developing the concept of a canopy, Sejima creates a direct connection with the building and the environment, in a similar way that parks connect people with each other and the environment.

Starting with the Rolex Learning Center in Lausanne, Switzerland and conc...

Rolex Arts Initiative Mentor Kazuyo Sejima Selects Yang Zhao as Architecture Protégé

2012-11-14T11:31:00-05:00

Emerging Architect Will Spend Year in Creative Collaboration on Home-for-All

Kazuyo Sejima has selected Chinese architect Yang Zhao as her protégé for a year of creative collaboration as part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. This is the first year that architecture has been included as a discipline in the programme that pairs masters and emerging artists in the fields of dance, film, literature, music, theatre and visual arts.

Yang Zhao, 32, started an architectural practice, Zhaoyang Studio, in 2007. His current projects include working on two buildings in the rural area of Yunnan Province, China. He has a master’s degree in architecture (with distinction) from the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University.

Sejima selected Zhao after a global search, which identified three of the world’s leading young architects as finalists. Over the course of a year, Zhao will work on Home-for-All, a project created by Sejima and other leading Japanese architects i...

Promising young architects selected as finalists for the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative

2012-10-14T15:36:00-04:00

Following a worldwide search for the most outstanding young talents in architecture, Rolex has announced the finalists for a year-long mentorship with renowned Japanese architect Kazuyo Sejima.

The finalists are:

2012-2013 ARCHITECTURE PROTÉGÉE FINALIST FRIDA ESCOBEDO
Frida Escobedo, 32, is the acting director of a small architecture firm, Frida Escobedo Studio, in Mexico City, where she is currently working on multiple projects for the National Council of Arts (CONACULTA). She is also a member of the Domus Mexico Editiorial Board and teaches at the Universidad Anahuac.

2012-2013 ARCHITECTURE PROTÉGÉ FINALIST CAMILO RESTREPO
Camilo Restrepo Ochoa, is a 38 year-old Colombian architect. His projects involve curating, public competitions, private commissions and research in territorial and urban issues. He has a Master in Urbanism, architecture and urban culture from the Centro de Cultura Contemporánea de Barcelona CCCB, Universidad Politecnica de Catalunya UPC, in Barcelona, Spain.

2012-2013 ARCHITECTURE PROTÉGÉ FINALIST YANG ZHAO
Yang Zhao, 32, started an architectural practice, Zhaoyang Studio, in 2007. His current projects include working on two bu...

It's About Time! SANAA's Kazuyo Sejima Becomes the Rolex Protege Program's First Architectural Mentor

2012-08-28T17:51:00-04:00

Sejima’s protégé will not be named until next month, although the young architect’s workload has already been prescribed: he or she will contribute over the course of a year to “Home for All,” a project helmed by Sejima and other Japanese architectural luminaries in response to 2011's tsunami and the ensuing housing crisis.