Kazuyo Sejima, architect living within the present: three housing projects study.
Kazuyo Sejima; Tokyo; housing; experimentation; architect of the present; public and private spaces.
This research discusses and analyzes three projects by Japanese architect Kazuyo Sejima. The objective is to apprehend the influence of cultural, social-economic, and geographical aspects of Japan in her work, especially in the late 20th century and early 21st century. We will use the architect's trajectory to deepen into her perception of the world, which reverberates in her architectural production and highlights her as an exponent professional of contemporaneity. Thereunto, we will explore the central feature in her work: the relationship between public and private spaces. We focus on housing projects: House in a Plum Grove (2004), in which we will concentrate on constructive aspects of the house, starting from a reinterpretation of the traditional Japanese house in a contemporary scenario; the Gifu Kitagata Apartment Building (2000), to better understand the idea and management of diffuse space, recurrent in her work; and, finally, the Saishunkan Seiyaku Women's Dormitory (1991), which reflects changes in the urban lifestyle in the country. It is a thematic study, not a chronological one, to reflect on Sejima as an architect who designs for the present, once she is highly connected to her context.