Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA

In 1995, Kazuyo Sejima (born in 1956) and Ryue Nishizawa (born in 1966) founded SANAA, the Tokyo architecture studio that has designed innovative buildings in Japan and around the world. Examples of their, groundbreaking work include, among others, the Rolex Learning Center in Lausanne, Switzerland; the Toledo Museum of Arts Glass Pavilion in Toledo, Ohio; the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, NY: the Serpentine Pavilion in London; the Christian Dior Building in Omotesando in Tokyo; and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa. The latter won the Golden Lion in 2004 for the most significant work in the Ninth International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale. Born in Japans prefecture of Ibaraki (northeast of Tokyo), Kazuyo Sejima received a degree in architecture at the Japan Womens University. Upon completion of her studies, she began working in the office of architect Toyo Ito. In 1987, she opened her own studio in Tokyo, and in 1992, she was...