Japanese architect Ryue Nishizawa is best known for his collaborative works with architect Kazuyo Sejima. Their firm, Sejima + Nishizawa and Associates (SANAA), is praised for designing powerful, minimalist buildings using common, everyday materials. Ryue Nishizawa and Kazuyo Sejima share the 2010 Pritzker Architecture Prize. Sejima and Nishizawa also maintain separate practices, which usually focus on smaller commissions.
Born:
1966 in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
Education:
- 1990: Master’s in Architecture, Yokohama National University
Selected Works:
Projects by Sejima + Nishizawa and Associates (SANAA) include:
- 1999: Ogasawara Museum (O-Museum), Nagano, Japan
- 2003: Christian Dior Building, Tokyo, Japan
- 2004: 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan
- 2006: Zollverein School of Management and Design, Essen, Germany
- 2006: Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio, USA
- 2006: Naoshima Ferry Terminal, Naoshima, Kagawa, Japan
- 2007: New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York City, USA
- 2007: De Kunstlinie Theater and Cultural Center, Almere, Netherlands
- 2009: Serpentine Pavilion, London, England
- 2009: Rolex Learning Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
Selected Awards:
The firm Sejima + Nishizawa and Associates (SANAA) has won numerous awards, including:
- 1998: The Prize of the Architectural Institute of Japan, Tokyo, Japan
- 2000: Erich Schelling Architecture Prize, Karlsruhe, Germany
- 2002: Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture, American Academy of Arts and Letters New York, New York
- 2002: Architecture Award of Salzburg, Austria
- 2006: The Prize of the Architectural Institute of Japan, Tokyo, Japan
- 2010: Pritzker Architecture Prize. Aged 44 at the time, Ryue Nishizawa is the youngest person to receive a Pritzker Prize.
Career Highlights:
- 1987: Ryue Nishizawa joined the firm Kazuyo Sejima & Associates
- 1995: Ryue Nishizawa partnered with Kazuyo Sejima to form Sejima + Nishizawa and Associates (SANAA)
- 1997: Ryue Nishizawa formed a separate practice, the Office of Ryue Nishizawa, which usually focuses on smaller commissions.
Teaching:
- Associate Professor at Yokoham National University, 2001-
- Jean Labatut Professorship at the School of Architecture at Princeton University, USA (shared with Kazuyo Sejima), 2005-2008
