About this talk

Running time: 17 minutes (English), 19 minutes (Japanese)

Japanese architect Itsuko Hasegawa, best known for public buildings such as the Sumida Culture Factory in Tokyo (1994), the Yamanashi Museum Of Fruit (1994) and the Suzu Performing Arts Center in Ishikawa (2006), founded her practice Itsuko Hasegawa Atelier in 1979. Well respected in her home country, but little known abroad, her early influences include fellow Japanese architects Kazuo Shinohara and Kiyonori Kikutake. In 2018, she was the first recipient of the Royal Academy Architecture Prize; the jury praising her as an architect of great talent, as yet under recognised.

In this talk, Hasegawa describes her design for the Niigata City Performing Arts Center (1998). She explains how an understanding of the landscape, and an ongoing engagement with local people was central to her design process. This approach, which she pioneered with the Shonandai Cultural Center (1990), has helped to shift attitudes towards the design of public buildings in Japan.

Recorded in London in July 2018. Translation by Sakiko Kohashi.

Please note that a transcript of this talk is available - please contact us for further details.