Kazuyo Sejima Joins Pritzker Prize Jury

John Hill

30. January 2018

Kazuyo Sejima during a press tour of Grace Farms in 2015 (Photo: John Hill/World-Architects)

The Pritzker Architecture Prize has announced that Japanese architect Kazuyo Sejima – co-founder of SANAA and the 2010 Pritzker Laureate alongside SANAA partner Ryue Nishizawa – is joining the jury for what is considered "architecture’s highest honor."

The addition of Sejima brings the total number of members of the Pritzker Jury* to nine, four of them Pritzker Laureates. The announcement comes four months after Chinese architect Wang Shu was added to the jury and two years after British architect Richard Rogers joined. Recently departed jurors include Alejandro Aravena (2009-2015), who won the Pritzker in 2016; Yung Ho Chang (2012-2017); and Kristin Feiress (2013-2017).

As part of today's announcement, Tom Pritzker stated: "During her acceptance speech of the 2010 Pritzker Prize, Ms. Sejima remarked, '…this award is not only in recognition of our past works but rather an encouragement toward new architectural creations.' It is this credence, alongside her international background and experience, that makes her a welcomed addition to the Jury."

In addition to SANAA, which she and Nishizawa opened in 1995, Sejima maintains her own office, Kazuyo Sejima & Associates, which she formed in Tokyo in 1987. Her own works include House in Plum Grove (Tokyo) and Inujima Art House Project (Okayama). Notable SANAA works consist of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art (Kanazawa), the Rolex Learning Center (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), the Louvre-Lens, and Grace Farms (New Canaan).

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. The 2018 Laureate will be announced in March.

*The Pritzker Jury:

Glenn Murcutt (Jury Chair), 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
Lord Palumbo, architectural patron, Chairman Emeritus of the Trustees, Serpentine Galleries, London, United Kingdom
Richard Rogers, architect and 2007 Pritzker Laureate, London, United Kingdom
Kazuyo Sejima, architect and 2010 Pritzker Laureate, Tokyo, Japan
Wang Shu, architect, educator, and 2012 Pritzker Laureate, Hangzhou, China
Benedetta Tagliabue, architect and director of EMBT Miralles Tagliabue, Barcelona, Spain
Ratan N. Tata, Chairman of Tata Trusts, Mumbai, India