Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, the leaders of the Japanese architectural studio SANAA, have been awarded the 2025 Royal Gold Medal by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). This recognition honors their 30-year dedication to creating sustainable, user-centered architectural spaces.
The RIBA Honors Committee stated, “They speak a universal architectural language that resonates with people everywhere. Balancing boldness with sensitivity to the local environment, their works demonstrate that architecture can be both functional and profoundly elegant, offering a sense of calm amidst an increasingly complex and chaotic world.”
SANAA is renowned for crafting ethereal spaces that harness light. By harmonizing transparency with materiality, their designs create environments where users, architecture, and the surrounding landscapes interact seamlessly. Their works immerse themselves in their surroundings, exemplified by the New Museum in the bustling streets of New York City and the Rolex Learning Center, which flows gently along the shores of Lake Geneva in Lausanne, Switzerland. While often showcasing simple and minimalist designs, their projects conceal a quiet complexity that reflects their rigorous creative process. This balance of simplicity and depth defines their architectural approach.
Some of SANAA’s notable projects include the Dior Omotesando Store in Japan2003, the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan2004, the Zollverein School of Design in Germany2006, the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London2009, the Louvre-Lens Museum in France2012, Grace Farms in the United States2015, and Sydney Modern in Australia2022.
In response to their award, SANAA shared: “We are delighted and very honored to receive the Royal Gold Medal. We have always believed that architecture can transform and repair environments, helping us to relate to our surroundings, nature and each other. Throughout our careers we have tried to make spaces that bring people together, inviting them to imagine new ways of living and learning collectively. Architecture is always teamwork and we are very grateful to everyone that has given us opportunities to develop these ideas over the years, and to all those people that have worked tirelessly with us to realize them. This is a very happy moment for us, thank you.”
RIBA President Muyiwa Oki remarked, “Their work, demonstrating remarkable clarity and consistency over the decades, serves as a lasting testament to the transformative power of architecture – to inspire joy, to create a sense of belonging, and to connect us to the environments we inhabit. Rooted in a shared vision where architecture priorities the human experience and interaction alongside form and function, SANAA’s legacy will continue to resonate across cultures and generations to come.”
SANAA will officially receive the award at a public ceremony in London on May 1, 2025. The Royal Gold Medal, one of the most prestigious honors in architecture, has been awarded annually since 1848 to individuals or groups for significant contributions to the advancement of architecture.
Previous recipients include Norman Foster, Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell of Grafton Architects, Frank Gehry, Yasmeen Lari, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Balkrishna Doshi. The 2025 RIBA Honors Committee included President Muyiwa Oki, BIG founder Bjarke Ingels, dRMM Architects director Sadie Morgan, and last year’s winner, Lesley Lokko.
Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa were born in Japan in 1956 and 1966, respectively. Sejima studied architecture at Japan Women’s University, while Nishizawa attended Yokohama National University. After gaining experience at Toyo Ito & Associates, Sejima founded Kazuyo Sejima & Associates in 1987. In 1995, she and Nishizawa established SANAA in Tokyo. Both continue to work as independent architects alongside their collaborative practice.
