While western architecture has traditionally sought to provide shelter from the natural world, Japanese homes and buildings have always strived to integrate outside with inside. The Japanese garden, for example, is situated in the centre of the home, including the natural world in the domestic space and providing a sense of simultaneous interior and exterior.
In a short time Kazuya Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA have achieved international acclaim with projects around the world such as the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; the Louvre Annex, Lens, France; the Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, Ohio; and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan.
Giving Sydneysiders a first-hand taste of their unique architectural aesthetic, a new instillation commissioned by Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation is now on show at the SCAF gallery in Paddington. Continuing Sejima and Nishizawa’s recent experiments with acrylic, the space is reconfigured into an organically curved labrynth which plays with the gentle separations of gradual curvature and synthesises interior and exterior spaces. Also evident is the same emphasis on transparency, reflections, ambiguity and spatial illusion that is found in their architecture.
The ‘architectural intervention’ is on show until the end of September and is accompanied by a beautifully published SCAF catalogue (pictured above), which includes an essay by Yuko Hasegawa, Chief Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo. On August 15 there will also be a free public lecture by Kazuyo Sejima followed by Margaret Throsby in conversation with Yuko Hasegawa and Kazuyo Sejima. The talk starts at 3pm at Tusculum Auditorium in Potts Point, with reservations to be made at eleni.ragogo@raia.com.au.
“Inspirational architecture provides us with work, living and leisure spaces that elevate the spirit and enrich the senses. We owe a great debt to those whose buildings reflect our highest aspirations and our need for both contemplation and community interaction.”
(Dr Gene Sherman)
[...] can make art accessible and encourage interaction with daily life and local communities. When I wrote about SANAA several months ago during their exhibition in Sydney, I mentioned how their work prefers gradual [...]
Pingback by Big In Japan — November 4, 2009 @ 6:01 pm[...] spacial design by Sejima is reminiscent of the instillation that was held at SCAF in Sydney earlier this year, but the experience of the curved and subtly reflective space with Rei [...]
Pingback by Big In Japan — November 9, 2009 @ 5:24 am[...] spacial design by Sejima is reminiscent of the instillation that was held at SCAF Gallery in Sydney earlier this year, but the experience of the curved and subtly reflective space with Rei [...]
Pingback by Kazuyo Sejima for Comme des Garçons | esper. magazine — November 14, 2009 @ 1:29 pm