SANAA wins RIBA Royal Gold Medal 2025

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the award of the 173rd RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture 2025 to the Japanese architectural firm SANAA, founded in 1995 and led by architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa. The firm is known for projects around the world, such as the New Museum in New York or the Rolex Learning Centre in Switzerland.

The RIBA Honours Committee selected the Japanese duo SANAA for being at the forefront of architectural avant-garde for almost three decades. In recognition of their pioneering career, their projects and their constant search for “sustainable and user-centred” proposals, which encapsulate a “universal language of architecture that resonates with people around the world”.

New Urban Campus for Bocconi University by SANAA. Photograph by Ottavio Tomasini

SANAA has been awarded the distinction since 1848, considering it one of the most influential practices in the current architectural landscape, through proposals that emphasize simplicity, light and elegance.

Other works mentioned in the statement include the Grace Farms Foundation US library/campus (2015) in Connecticut; The Dior Omotesando Store, Japan (2003); 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan (2004); Zollverein School of Design, Germany (2006); Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, UK (2009); Louvre-Lens in France (2012), and the new Sydney Modern Project for the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Australia (2022). SANAA, recognised for maintaining “remarkable clarity and coherence” throughout its work, is the fifth Japanese winner of the Royal Gold Medal.

Edificio de la facultad de artes y ciencias de la Universidad de Artes de Osaka por Kazuyo Sejima. Fotografía por Mengzhu Jiang.

"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. 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."

Sejima and Nishizawa.

Nuevo Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de la ciudad de Nueva York. Imagen cortesía de la Asociación de Arte de Japón.

The New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York City. Image courtesy of The Japan Art Association.

The jury that selected them was made up of RIBA President Muyiwa Oki, Bjarke Ingels, Lesley Lokko and dRMM co-founder Sadie Morgan.

"Their work serves as a lasting testament to the transformative power of architecture — to inspire joy, create a sense of belonging, and connect us to the environments we inhabit."

RIBA President, Muyiwa Oki.

The award of the medal adds to a list of prizes that includes Lesley Lokko, Yasmeen Lari and the late Balkrishna Doshi. Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa will be recognised during a public celebration in London on 1 May.

Bocconi University in Italy. Photograph courtesy of SANAA.

Tsuruoka Cultural Hall by SANAA. Photograph courtesy of SANAA.

Art Gallery of New South Wales by SANAA. Photograph by Iwan Baan.

La Samaritaine in Paris. Photograph courtesy of SANAA.

Grand Magasin La Samaritaine by SANAA. Photograph by Simón García / arqfoto.

New Museum. Photograph by courtesy Dean Kaufman.

Suimei Pavilion by Kazuyo Sejima. Photograph by Kazuyo Sejima and Associates.

Arts and Science faculty building of Osaka University of Arts by Kazuyo Sejima. Photograph by Mengzhu Jiang.

Vision from exterior. Louvre Lens by SANAA. Photography by Hisao Suzuki.

SANAA's meandering river building at Grace Farms. Photography by Dean Kaufman.

The 2025 RIBA Royal Gold Medal winners SANAA (Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa). Photograph by Aiko Suzuki.

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KAZUYO SEJIMA & RYUE NISHIZAWA. SANAA

SANAA. Kazuyo Sejima (Ibaraki, Japan, 1956) and Ryue Nishizawa (Kanagawa, Japan, 1966) worked independently from each other before founding the SANAA Ltd. studio in 1995. Having studied architecture at the Japan Women’s University, Sejima went on to work for the renowned architect Toyo Ito. She set up her studio in 1987 and in 1992 was proclaimed Young Architect of the Year in Japan. Nishizawa studied architecture at the Yokohama National University. In addition to his work with Sejima, he has had his practice since 1997.

The studio has built several extraordinarily successful commercial and institutional buildings, civic centres, homes and museums both in Japan and elsewhere. These include the O Museum in Nagano (1999) and the N Museum in Wakayama (1997), the Day-Care Center in Yokohama (2000), the Prada Beauty Store in Tokyo and Hong Kong (2001), the Issey Miyake and Christian Dior Building in Tokyo (2003) and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa (2004). Sejima also designed the famous Small House in Tokyo (2000), the Toledo Museum of Art Glass Pavilion, Toledo, Ohio (2001-2006), the extension to the Institut Valencia d’Art Modern, Valencia, Spain (2002 – ), the Zollverein School, Essen, Germany (2003-2006), the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (2003-2007) and the Novartis Campus WSJ-157 Office Building, Basle, Switzerland (2003 – ).

In 2004 Sejima and Nishizawa were awarded the Golden Lion at the 9th Venice Architecture Biennale for their distinguished work on the Metamorph exhibition.

Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa have won the 2010 Pritzker Prize.

The 12th International Architecture Exhibition was directed by Kazuyo Sejima, the first woman to direct the Venice Architecture Biennale, since its inception in 1980.