Sejima selected Zhao after a global search, which identified three of the world’s leading young architects as finalists (see all of the finalists here).
A year of mentoring. During the mentorship year, young Chinese architect Yang Zhao will collaborate on Home-for-All, (more information here) a project created by his mentor Kazuyo Sejima and other leading Japanese architects in response to the housing crisis following the devastation caused by the 2011 tsunami in Japan. Home-for-All is providing communal gathering places at temporary housing sites for displaced people. Zhao will join the teams of architects, designers, students and tradesmen who incorporate the wishes of the community when constructing the temporary buildings. Of the mentorship, Zhao said: “It’s a gift, but also a job. It’s an honour, but also a mission. My objectives are to experience a challenging and creative collaboration process with Sejima- san, to learn from the design culture in Japan, and to make my contribution to the whole reconstruction project,” he said.
“Yang Zhao puts much care into each of his projects, which are most often located in the outskirts of the city, so that they have a relationship with their context. I look forward to seeing what he would bring to the project in the Tohoku region,” Sejima said.
Zhao and Sejima join six other mentoring pairs in the 2012-2013 cycle, including:
- Dance mentor Lin Hwai-min and protégé Eduardo Fukushima
- Film mentor Walter Murch and protégée Sara Fgaier
- Literature mentor Margaret Atwood and protégée Naomi Alderman
- Music mentor Gilberto Gil and protégée Dina El-Wedidi
- Theatre mentor Patrice Chéreau and protégé Michał Borczuch
- Visual Arts mentor William Kentridge and protégé Mateo López
Each protégé receives 25,000 Swiss francs to support participation in the programme. At the conclusion of the mentoring year, he or she is eligible for an additional 25,000 Swiss francs for the creation of a new work.
The Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative was founded in 2002 to encourage talented individuals through a unique programme of one-to-one mentoring with a major figure in their artistic discipline. Over the past 10 years, the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative creative community has expanded across continents and cultures, and now includes more than 80 major creative artists of different generations and backgrounds.
