Royal Academy Architecture Prize Lecture: Itsuko Hasegawa
Royal Academy Architecture Awards Week
Wednesday 4 July 2018 7 - 8.30pm
The Benjamin West Lecture Theatre, Burlington Gardens, Royal Academy of Arts, Piccadilly
£25, £15 concessions (a combined ticket is available for the lecture and the Royal Academy Dorfman Awards Judging). Includes drinks reception in the Collections Gallery from 6.15pm
Inaugural Royal Academy Architecture Prize winner Itsuko Hasegawa will present her work and influences in this special celebratory lecture.
In February, the Japanese architect Itsuko Hasegawa won the inaugural Royal Academy Architecture Prize, honouring her inspiring and enduring contribution to the culture of architecture.
Described by the judging panel as "one of Japan’s most important architects", Hasegawa has largely been under-recognised, despite her significant contribution to modern architecture both in Japan and around the world.
She began her career working with Japan’s Metabolists group of architects, including Kisho Kurakawa, Fumihiko Maki and Kenzo Tange, and later went on to work with Kazuo Shinohara, whose work is associated with traditional Japanese architecture. These two very different influences have informed a lifetime of work.
Hasegawa’s buildings feature a lightness of touch, using simple materials and dynamic forms. She founded her own practice, Itsuko Hasegawa Atelier, in 1979 and was the first woman architect to design a public building in Japan. After earning acclaim when she won the competition to design the Shonandai Cultural Centre in Fujisawa, Hasegawa was then commissioned to do a large number of projects across Japan including the Sumida Culture Factory, the Yamanashi Museum of Fruit, and the Fukuroi Workshop Centre.
Tickets include a drinks reception in the Royal Academy’s Collection Gallery ahead of the lecture.
About Itsuko Hasegawa
After graduating from the Department of Architecture at Kanto Gakuin University, Itsuko Hasegawa became a research student in the Department of Architecture at Tokyo Institute of Technology. In 1979 she established Itsuko Hasegawa Atelier. Her projects include a variety of houses and public buildings. Hasegawa earned acclaim when she won first prize in the open competition to design the Shonandai Cultural Centre in Fujisawa. She was then commissioned to do a large number of projects across Japan including the Sumida Culture Factory, the Yamanashi Museum of Fruit, and the Fukuroi Workshop Centre. In 1986 she received the Design Prize from the Architectural Institute of Japan for her Bizan Hall project. Her residential projects also earned a Japan Cultural Design Award. In 1997 she was elected as an Honorary Fellow of the RIBA, in 2000 she received the Japan Art Academy Award, in 2001 she received the Honorary Degree Award at University College London and in 2006 she was elected as one of the Honorary Fellows of the AIA.
Gallery
The Royal Academy Architecture Awards are generously supported by the Dorfman Foundation