SANAA
Every year since 1989 The Imperial Family of Japan and The Japan Art Association have given the Praemium Imperiale in five fields, acknowledging contributions to the development and promotion of the arts worldwide. Each of the laureates receives almost 105,000 euros, and in this 33th cycle they are: Giulio Paolini (Painting); Ai Weiwei (Sculpture); Krystian Zimerman (Music); Wim Wenders (Film/Theater); and Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA (Architecture).
Sejima and Nishizawa are the authors of an ‘immaterial’ oeuvre that stands out for its apparent simplicity. Their most significant works include the Kanazawa Museum of Contemporary Art, the Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio, the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, the Rolex Learning Center in Lausanne, the Louvre-Lens Museum in Lens, the Bocconi University Campus in Milan, and the renovation of La Samaritaine department store in Paris.
Wim Wenders, Krystian Zimerman, Ryue Nishizawa, Kazuyo Sejima, Ai Weiwei and Giulio Paolini. Photo: The Japan Art Association/The Sankei Shimbun
