Japanese architects Sejima, Nishizawa win Pritzker

[April 01, 2010]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Japanese architecture team of Kazuyo Sejima (KAH'-zoo-yoh SEH'-jee-mah) and Ryue Nishizawa (RYOO'-eh NEE'-shee-zah-wah) are the winners of this year's Pritzker Architecture Prize, the top honor in the field.

In their announcement Sunday, the Pritzker jury praised the duo for designing bright, airy structures that blend into their surroundings.

Among the projects mentioned by the jury were the translucent-skinned Christian Dior Building in an upscale Tokyo shopping district, the Toledo Museum of Art's see-through Glass Pavilion and lower Manhattan's New Museum of Contemporary Art.

Sejima and Nishizawa are the fourth Pritzker laureates to be chosen from Japan.

The formal Pritzker ceremony will be held in May on Ellis Island. The 54-year-old Sejima and the 44-year-old Nishizawa will receive a $100,000 grant and a pair of bronze medallions.

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On the Net:

Pritzker: http://www.pritzkerprize.com/

[Associated Press; By JACOB ADELMAN]

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