ten iconic projects by 2025 RIBA royal gold medalists SANAA

sanaa is the 2025 Royal Gold Medal winner

Japanese studio SANAA, led by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, has been awarded the 2025 Royal Gold Medal by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), one of the highest honors in the field. Recognized for nearly three decades of work spanning transformative public buildings and innovative residential projects, SANAA has been praised for its ability to balance bold, minimalist forms with sensitivity to context. The RIBA Honours Committee highlighted the studio’s commitment to simplicity, light, and elegance, as well as its capacity to shape a universal architectural language that resonates globally. Following this prestigious announcement, designboom takes a closer look at ten notable projects by the Tokyo-based firm, highlighting their distinctive approach and lasting influence on contemporary architecture.

Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa | image © Aiko Suzuki

serpentine gallery pavilion

Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa designed the 2009 Serpentine Pavilion as a fluid, reflective structure whose organic form wraps around trees, rising and dipping to invite movement and interaction, dissolving the boundary between architecture and nature. ‘The Pavilion is floating aluminum, drifting freely between the trees like smoke. Its appearance changes according to the weather, allowing it to melt into the surroundings. It works as a field of activity with no walls, allowing uninterrupted views across the park and encouraging access from all sides,’ the architects explain. Supported by slender columns, the undulating metal roof mirrors the sky and landscape, creating an ephemeral presence that shifts with the light.

rolex learning center

SANAA’s Rolex Learning Center at EPFL in Lausanne is a 20,000-square-meter structure defined by undulating concrete surfaces, gentle slopes, and glazed patios. The open-plan building integrates libraries, study areas, cafés, and social spaces within a barrier-free environment. Instead of staircases, a flowing topography of hills and valleys naturally divides zones, while clusters of glazed enclosures create intimate meeting spaces. Fourteen voids punctuate the structure, forming patios that provide natural light and a connection between indoor and outdoor spaces.

Engineered with SAPS and Bollinger + Grohmann, the building’s shell consists of two curved concrete structures supported by underground pre-stressed cables and precisely cast using 1,400 custom molds. GPS-positioned formwork ensured accuracy in shaping the complex geometry, while its glass facades were individually cut to accommodate structural movement. Achieving Minergie certification, the center optimizes energy efficiency through natural ventilation, high-performance insulation, and a campus-wide lake water cooling system, setting a new standard for sustainable educational architecture.

Rolex Learning Center (2010) | image courtesy of SANAA

new museum of contemporary art

The New Museum’s Bowery location, designed by SANAA in collaboration with Gensler, opened its doors on December 1, 2007. The seven-story facility spans 58,700 square feet, marking a significant expansion for the museum with additional exhibition and event spaces. SANAA’s design aligns with the museum’s mission, embracing the fluidity and adaptability of contemporary art. The bold stack of white boxes, situated in the heart of the Bowery neighborhood, engages in dialogue with the surrounding buildings, reflecting the coexistence of diverse cultural elements.

Founded in 1977, the New Museum has established itself as a vital platform for experimentation, fostering contemporary art and new ideas rather than merely preserving history. Initially occupying a temporary space on Hudson Street, the museum grew in influence, leading to the opening of its purpose-built headquarters at Bowery and Prince Street in 2007. The building quickly became a symbol of innovation, offering dynamic exhibitions and fostering public engagement. As the museum continues to evolve, its OMA-designed expansion solidifies its role as a space for dialogue between artists and the public, ensuring its continued relevance in the ever-changing art world.

New Museum of Comtemporary Art (2007) | image by Dean Kaufman

Sydney Modern Project at Art Gallery NSW

The Sydney Modern Project, the transformation of the Art Gallery of New South Wales (NSW) by SANAA nearly doubles the exhibition space of the museum. Overlooking Sydney Harbor, the new building consists of overlapping rectangular pavilions designed to integrate with the landscape. Key features include the adaptive reuse of a 2,200 square meter World War II fuel bunker into an exhibition space known as the Tank, a 1,100 sqm column-free contemporary art gallery, and a dedicated space for time-based media.

Sustainability is central to the project, making it Australia’s first public art museum to achieve a 6-star Green Star rating. The building is powered entirely by renewable energy, with solar panels covering over 10% of its needs and rainwater collected for irrigation and cooling. More than 8,000 square meters of green roofs and landscaped areas are planted with native species. Architectural highlights include three limestone-clad pavilions that cascade toward the harbor, 250 meters of rammed earth walls using locally sourced materials, and an eleven-meter-high atrium connecting the indoor and outdoor spaces of the museum.

aerial view of the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ new SANAA-designed building, 2022, photo © Iwan Baan

louvre-lens museum

Designed by SANAA in collaboration with Imrey Culbert, Catherine Mosbach, and Studio Adrien Gardère, the Louvre-Lens Museum in Lens, France, offers a contemporary extension to the Louvre in Paris. Conceived in 2003, the 28,000-square-meter museum is situated on a former mining site, maintaining its openness by breaking the structure into smaller volumes that follow the natural topography. Glass-enclosed galleries create transparency, while anodized aluminum facades subtly reflect the surroundings. Spanning 306 meters, the elongated form generates a gentle interior distortion without disrupting exhibitions, while full-height glass panels bring in natural light, regulated by a shading system to protect the artworks.

Rejecting traditional departmentalization, the museum’s 3,000-square-meter Grande Galerie presents Louvre artifacts in an open, uninterrupted space. A 1,000-square-meter glass pavilion hosts thematic exhibitions exploring time, while an extensive park transforms the 20-hectare former coal-mining site into a sustainable, natural landscape.

Louvre-Lens Museum (2012) | image courtesy of SANAA

21st century museum of contemporary art in kanazawa

The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa integrates with the city like a park. Its circular form, surrounded by three streets, allows entry from multiple directions. Transparency is a defining feature, with glass walls creating visual continuity between interior and exterior spaces, enhancing natural light, and encouraging interaction among visitors. The horizontal layout of the museum, housing exhibition spaces, a restaurant, and an art library, mirrors the experience of strolling through a city.

Beyond its architecture, the museum bridges Kanazawa’s traditional arts and contemporary global perspectives. It fosters community engagement through participatory programs and aims to revitalize the city as a vibrant cultural destination.

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa (2004) | image courtesy of SANAA

tsuruoka cultural hall

Designed to be inviting and approachable, the Tsuruoka Cultural Hall is set within a cultural district and positioned next to the historic Chidōkan school, built in 1805. Its layout follows the ‘sayadou’ style, traditionally used to shelter shrines and temples, with a series of sweeping canopies that unify the structure. The complex is composed of volumes that decrease in scale toward the perimeter, creating a sense of harmony with its natural surroundings.

At its core, a vineyard-style concert hall features tiered seating that encircles the stage, fostering an immersive experience. Adjacent public spaces are designed as flexible areas that accommodate various functions. While the design preserves the identity of the previous building, it expands the institution’s role to better serve local students and art organizations, offering additional programs and services. Throughout the interior and exterior, materials emphasize a tactile quality, enhancing the sensory experience. This project joins Sejima’s portfolio of solo works, which includes a transparent walk-through pavilion and a museum dedicated to Katsushika Hokusai.

Tsuruoka Cultural Hall (2018) | image courtesy of SANAA

la samaritaine

After 16 years of extensive renovation, La Samaritaine reopened in the heart of Paris, revisiting its historic Art Nouveau and Art Deco elements with contemporary interventions. Originally inaugurated in 1910 and expanded in 1928, the department store was forced to close in 2005 due to safety concerns.

SANAA introduced a bold new identity with a wave-like glass facade on the Rue de Rivoli, while restoring the grandeur of the Pont-Neuf side. The Japanese studio designed the undulating glass-clad volume, made of 343 individual panels, to reflect its Parisian surroundings.

bocconi milan

The 35,000-square-meter expansion of Bocconi University in Milan, introduces a new School of Management, a 300-bed residence hall, and a multi-purpose sports center. The design integrates open courtyards, gardens, and an undulating translucent façade, creating a fluid and transparent connection between the campus and the city.

The campus reflects Milanese architectural traditions, reinterpreting porticos and cloisters with contemporary forms. Half of the site remains dedicated to green spaces, ensuring natural light and ventilation throughout. The three-story sports center, open to the public, houses Milan’s first Olympic-sized swimming pool, alongside courts for basketball and volleyball, a fitness center, and an indoor running track.

New campus for Bocconi university (2019) | image courtesy of SANAA

Better Co-being

SANAA collaborates with researcher Hiroaki Miyata to design Better Co-being, an experiential pavilion set within the ‘Forest of Tranquility’ at Expo 2025 Osaka. Part of the thematic project ‘Resonance of Lives,’ the pavilion explores a future society based on co-existence, resource sharing, and data co-creation rather than division.

The pavilion reimagines spatial boundaries, emerging as a roofless, wallless structure that blends with its forested surroundings. Conceptually, the design mirrors a network of trees or interconnected data streams, symbolizing the union of natural and manmade systems. Within this ecosystem, light and water generate organic matter, reinforcing the theme of symbiosis. SANAA envisions the space as an open, inclusive environment where diverse individuals can gather, fostering new ways of living and collaborating.

visual © SANAA