SANAA's meandering river building at Grace Farms set to open

The main objective of the building designed by SANAA for the new center of Grace Farms, that will open on October 9th, is to blend with the surroundings without attracting attention to the architecture, hosting different functions and creating a series of indoor and outdoor spaces under a meandering cover.

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

Japanese studio SANAA has completed a sinuous building of glass, concrete, steel and wood that winds integrated into 80 acres (32 hectare) of rural in New Canaan, Connecticut, the town home to Philip Johnson’s iconic Glass House. SANAA’s meandering, named The River in reference to its ribbon-like roof, at Grace Farms is finally ready to open to the public.

The structure's organic extends, with a nearly continual roof, over a series of indoor and outdoor spaces, and was designed by SANAA architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa – similar to the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion the pair completed in 2010.

Kazuyo Sejima of SANAA commented "Our goal with the river (building) is to make the architecture become part of the landscape without drawing attention to itself, or even feeling like a building, we hope that those who are on property with have a greater enjoyment of the beautiful environment and changing seasons through the spaces and experience by the river."

Grace Farms president Sharon Prince explains.- "Through this blending of landscape, architecture and multifaceted programs, we hope to offer people a special place to share a quiet walk through the meadows, enjoy coffee or an intimate concert, pitch in with helping others for a worthy cause or get in touch with the deepest questions about the meaning of our lives. The possibilities of grace farms are as open as the landscape itself, which is the spirit that SANAA has so perfectly conveyed."

Grace Farms opens its doors on october 9th, 2015 with two days of special performances, public talks and family programs.

CREDITS.-

Venue.- Grace Farms, 365 Lukes Wood Road, New Canaan, CT 06840, USA.
Dates.- Opening Weekend at Grace Farms on Friday, October 9 & Saturday, October 10.

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Overview. Image courtesy of Grace Farms and SANAA.

Site plan. Image courtesy of Grace Farms and SANAA.

Plan of the main building. Image courtesy of Grace Farms and SANAA.

Plan of the stable building. Image courtesy of Grace Farms and SANAA.

Visualization, detail of the exterior of "The River" building. Image courtesy of Grace Farms and SANAA.

Visualization of the exterior of "The River" building. Image courtesy of Grace Farms and SANAA.

SANAA Grace Farms models. Photography © Thomas Demand, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, /ARS, New York. Courtesy of Matthew Marks Gallery.

Formal study of the building with Ryue Nishizawa. Image courtesy of Grace Farms and SANAA.

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More information

KAZUYO SEJIMA & RYUE NISHIZAWA. 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 own 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 own 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.