Knowra Kazuyo Sejima Kazuyo Sejima Kazuyo Sejima is a Japanese architect and cofounder of SANAA, known for buildings that use lightness, openness, and fluid connections between interior and exterior.
SANAA : SANAA is the Japanese architecture firm founded by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa in 1995. The practice through which Sejima developed many of her best-known architectural ideas.
21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa : The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa is a circular Japanese museum designed by SANAA and opened in 2004. Its transparent perimeter and multiple entrances make the museum unusually open to the surrounding city.
Japan Women's University : Japan Women's University is a private university in Tokyo founded in 1901. Sejima studied architecture there before beginning her professional career.
Venice Architecture Biennale : The Venice Architecture Biennale is an international exhibition of architecture held in Venice, Italy. Sejima directed its 2010 edition, becoming the first woman to hold that role.
Ryue Nishizawa : Ryue Nishizawa is a Japanese architect and cofounder of SANAA who also maintains an independent practice. His partnership with Sejima combines distinct approaches within SANAA’s projects.
New Museum : The New Museum is a contemporary art museum in New York City, housed in a SANAA-designed building opened in 2007. Its stacked, shifted volumes translate SANAA’s lightness into a compact urban landmark.
Toyo Ito : Toyo Ito is a Japanese architect known for experimental buildings that explore lightness, technology, and urban life. Sejima worked in Ito’s office, where she encountered a formative approach to contemporary architecture.
Harvard Graduate School of Design : Harvard Graduate School of Design is a school of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning at Harvard University. Sejima has taught there, extending her architectural practice into design education.
Minimalism : Minimalism is an approach that reduces form and means to a limited set of essential elements. Sejima’s restrained forms make minimalism a useful frame, though her work is not simply austere.
Rolex Learning Center : The Rolex Learning Center is a SANAA-designed campus building at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, opened in 2010. Its gently undulating floor replaces conventional room divisions with continuous, varied terrain.
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