Mar 13th 2017

Dean's Lecture Series Video: Junya Ishigami

Japanese architect Junya Ishigami delivered a lecture on Tues., Feb. 21 at 6 p.m. in S. R. Crown Hall as part of the Spring 2017 Dean's Lecture Series.

Junya Ishigami from IIT Architecture Chicago on Vimeo.

Ishigami started his career working with Kazuyo Sejima at SANAA, and later established junya.ishigami+associates in 2004. He presented in the Japanese Pavilion at the 11th Venice Architecture Biennale in 2008, and he was the youngest-ever winner of the Architectural Institute of Japan Prize for the Kanagawa Institute of Technology KAIT Workshop the following year.

Ishigami was awarded the Golden Lion for Best Project at the 12th Venice Architecture Biennale in 2010 for his project "Architecture as Air," which established him as one of Japan's leading architects. In the same year, he became an associate professor at Tohoku University in Japan. He was named the Kenzo Tange Design Critic at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 2014.

Ishigami is known for his ‘Cuboid Balloon’ project, a giant, helium-filled aluminum truss floating inside the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo. He has won competitions for many projects, including an art installation for the Sydney City Center Public Art Plan, a “symbol of peace” for Copenhagen’s harbor, and a ferry terminal on the Taiwanese island of Kinmen. He has a master's degree in architecture and planning from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.