SANAA founders Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa have been named the recipients of Le Prix Charlotte Perriand for 2025 by the Créateurs Design Association & Awards.

Sejima and Nishizawa were chosen as the year’s winners for being “at the forefront of architectural innovation” and in recognition of their “minimalist yet profound designs”, said Créateurs Design Association & Awards (CDA).

Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa have won Le Prix Charlotte Perriand. Illustration by Yohei Sugiyama

The 2025 award marks the fourth edition of the competition, which was launched in 2021 by the CDA to spotlight architecture and design trailblazers and honour the legacy of French modernist Charlotte Perriand.

It is the first time the prize, also known as the Charlotte Perriand Award, has been awarded to two people.

The pair were commended for their “minimalist yet profound designs”. Photo by Dean Kaufman

“It is a great honour to receive an award that bears such a great name,” said Sejima and Nishizawa.

“Charlotte Perriand is one of the masters of modern architecture, and we admire her delicate interior and furniture designs.”

The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art is among their notable works. Photo by SANAA

Sejima and Nishizawa were born in Japan in 1956 and 1966, respectively. Sejima studied at Japan Women’s University, completing an architecture master’s degree in 1981, before working for Toyo Ito and Associates.

In 1987 she started her own practice, Kazuyo Sejima & Associates, where she employed Nishizawa while he was studying architecture at Yokohama National University.

The pair founded SANAA in Tokyo in 1995. Since then, the studio has gained global recognition for projects such as the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa in 2004, the New Museum of Contemporary Art in the US in 2007 and the Louvre-Lens Museum in France in 2012.

Recent projects by SANAA include the Bocconi University New Urban Campus in Italy and the Sydney Modern extension to the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

SANAA designed the Sydney Modern art gallery. Photo by Iwan Baan

Sejima and Nishizawa were awarded the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2010. Other accolades they have received include the Architectural Institute of Japan Award in 2006 and the Praemium Imperiale award for architecture in 2022.

Last year, Sejima was named the recipient of the annual Jane Drew Prize for Architecture for her contribution to raising the profile of women in architecture.

The studio also created a perforated metal-clad campus for Bocconi University

Sejima and Nishizawa will receive Le Prix Charlotte Perriand at the Créateurs Design Awards ceremony, which will take place in Paris on 18 January 2025.

Last year’s winner was Mexican architect Frida Escobedo, who was chosen by the CDA for “ushering in a new era of architecture”. In 2023, Studio Gang director Jeanne Gang won the prize and was celebrated for her design of Aqua Tower, which was once the world’s tallest building designed by a woman.

The portrait of Sejima and Nishizawa is by SANAA.

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