The College of Architecture and Design will host Pritzker Prize-winner Kazuyo Sejima, co-founder of the award-winning international architecture firm SANAA, at 4 p.m. Saturday, April 8.
Kazuyo will present, “Environment and Architecture,” a reflection on how her interests translate into architecture. Her lecture is at the Bijou Theatre, 803 S. Gay Street. Doors open at 3 p.m. The event is sponsored by General Shale and is free and open to the public.
In 1995, Kazuyo and Ryue Nishizawa founded SANAA and have created award-winning architecture around the world, including the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan, the Rolex Learning Center in Switzerland, the Louvre Lens in France, and Grace Farms in New Canaan, Connecticut, winner of the American Institute of Architects 2017 Institute Honor Award.
In 2010, Kazuyo and Ryue received the Pritzker Prize, which recognizes “talent, vision, and commitment, which [have produced] significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture.” Their work was lauded by the Pritzker jury as “simultaneously delicate and powerful, precise and fluid, ingenious but not overly or overtly clever.”
Born in Ibaraki, Japan, Kazuyo received a degree in architecture at the Japan Women’s University. After graduation, she began working in the office of architect and 2013 Pritzker Prize-winner Toyo Ito. In 2010, Kazuyo was appointed director of the Venice Biennale.
Kazuyo’s lecture is part of Architecture Week, sponsored by the American Institute of Architects East Tennessee Chapter. The celebration, which runs April 7–15, includes a lecture, symposium, exhibit, design competition, and tours.
A second General Shale lecture will be held at 2 p.m. April 29 at the Bijou Theatre. The lecture features Craig Dykers, a founding partner of Snohetta, an international architecture firm named by the Wall Street Journal as a 2016 Innovator and recently responsible for the new Times Square in New York City.
For 43 years, the College of Architecture and Design has hosted leading architects and design professionals through its Robert B. Church Memorial Lecture Series and more recently the Governor’s Chair Lecture Series and General Shale Lectures, to enrich the education of its students and elevate the profession in the community. In 2016–17, more than a dozen professionals from around the world will lecture at the college.
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CONTACT:
Amanda F. Johnson (865-974-6401, amandajohnson@utk.edu)
Tyra Haag (865-974-5460, tyra.haag@tennessee.edu)