Royal Gold Medal RIBA 2025 awarded to SANAA

On Thursday, May 1, 2025, the ceremonial presentation of the RIBA Gold Medal took place at the London headquarters of the Royal Institute of British Architects. This year's laureates are the Japanese architect duo Ryue Nishizawa and Kazuyo Sejima from the Tokyo studio SANAA. Sejima and Nishizawa received the award in the presence of the reigning monarch, Charles III, which last happened in 2009.
On this occasion, RIBA President Muyiwa Oki commented on SANAA's work: “Their work has become a widely recognized standard for creating meaningful, culturally penetrating designs and will continue to raise the bar for future generations of architects. SANAA’s projects, which exemplify a simple yet striking connection of practice with architectural theory, demonstrate that architecture can balance functionality with elegance. SANAA are true pioneers in the field, their unwavering commitment to user-centered sustainable design has paved the way for others and set a standard for our future living environments. Their work, which over the decades displays remarkable clarity and consistency, serves as a lasting testament to the power of architecture – to inspire, create a sense of belonging, and connect us with the environments we inhabit.”
The names of this year's RIBA Gold Medal holders were announced in early February. After the award-winning architects learned of this news, they responded with the following words: “We have always believed that architecture can transform and repair environments, establish relationships with our surroundings, nature, and with each other. Throughout our professional journey, we have strived to create spaces that connect people and encourage communal living. Architecture is always teamwork, and we are very grateful to everyone who has given us the opportunity to develop these ideas over the years, and to all the people who have tirelessly worked with us to realize them. This is a very happy moment for us, thank you.”
The Japanese minimalists, who established their joint studio SANAA exactly thirty years ago, are being commemorated at RIBA with an exhibition of ten selected projects through the photographs of Iwan Baan. This exhibition at the London address 66 Portland Place will run until the end of May. A second exhibition featuring SANAA's work is taking place at Tate Liverpool, where the documentary Tokyo Ride by filmmakers Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine is also being screened.
The Tokyo studio SANAA is also the recipient of this year's Le Prix Charlotte Perriand. In the past, they have already received prestigious awards such as the Praemium Imperiale (2022) from the Japanese Emperor and the Pritzker Prize (2010).

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