Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa: SANAA - Tapa dura

Despite an age difference of ten years, the Japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima (b. 1956) and Ryue Nishizawa (b. 1966) have developed an equal partnership that has projected them into the architectural limelight since founding their Tokyo-based firm SANAA in 1995. Renowned worldwide for such high-visibility commercial work as Tokyo's translucent Christian Dior Omotesando Building and cultural landmarks like the circular 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, the partners of SANAA are currently among the world's most innovative-and thought-provoking-architects, winning the 2004 Venice Biennale's Golden Lion award for their remarkable work as well as the high-profile commission for the New Museum of Contemporary Art, now under construction in New York City.

Yuko Hasegawa is Chief Curator of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan, and serves as a board member of the International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art. She was a member of the international jury for the Venice Biennale, 1999, Artistic Director of the 7th International Istanbul Biennial, 2001, a member of the jury for the Hugo Boss Prize, 2002, Co-Curator of the 4th Shanghai Biennale, 2002, and commissioner of Japanese Pavilion of 50th Venice Biennale, 2003. She teaches art history at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and has authored books on artists Matthew Barney, Carsten Nicolai, and James Turrell.