SANAA: Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa

2006-09-20 until 2006-11-20
Bauhaus Archiv, Museum f�r Gestaltung
Berlin, , DE Germany

Founded in 1995, the Tokyo architectural bureau of SANAA (an abbreviation for Se-jima and Nishizawa Associated Architects) is among the most innovative architectural firms worldwide. On July 31, 2006 their first project in Germany, the Zollverein School of Management and Design in Essen, was opened to great media fanfare. In particular, SANAA has enjoyed success in the area of museum construction. In Japan, the firm built the Kanazawa Museum of 21st Century Art. At the end of August, the Glass Pavillion of the Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo/Ohio opened; and next year will see the opening of the Museum of Contemporary Art in New York. In 2005, SANAA emerged as the winner in the contest to design a branch of the Louvre in the city of Lens in northern France. The project is due to be completed in 2008.

The designs are captivating in their resourcefulness, offering subtle solutions for complex challenges. The language of form is minimalist and clear; the preferred ma-terial is transparent and light. The structures fit well into their environment, corre-sponding with existing elements � buildings, green spaces, nature.

In 2005, SANAA was one of six international architectural firms to submit a design proposal for the expansion of the Bauhaus Archive. The high-caliber jury unani-mously recommended that SANAA's proposal be implemented. Our building project will form a central part of the exhibit. The Bauhaus Archive is the only place in Ger-many where this exhibit will be seen on its European tour.

On the occasion of the exhibition, the Bauhaus Archive is presenting workbook_1, a publication that introduces both the future building and the possibilities it offers for our work.