Emerging patterns in the construction of Sejima’s, Sanaa’s and Nishizawa’s domestic spaces, from 1987 to 2010

Abstract

Sejima and Nishizawa have developed their work without explicitly referencing a theoretical discourse. However, they have stated that their housing projects describe their “architectural biography.” This study presents the hypothesis that systemic theories had influenced their housing projects at a spatial and constructive level. With the aim of testing it, the research produces four lines of results. Firstly, we observe that the word system is prominently current in a significant sample of their published texts. We describe how architects like Tominaga, Ito, Taki, and Shinohara, who influenced Sejima when she was still a student, discussed this concept inspired by Christopher Alexander’s texts. The second line brings together all the couple’s single-family housing projects published between 1987 and 2010 for the first time in a single document, as well as an original graphic-constructive reconstruction of the most outstanding ones. Thirdly, we unveil the emergence of four constructive patterns by applying these theories to the graphic material developed. Finally, we summarize the results in diagrams, showing the frequency, intensity, and continuity of the identified patterns in the four phases throughout the studied period. Verifying the hypothesis facilitates further research relate their domestic work and their other types of projects.

Key words： Architecture; House; Pattern; Sejima; Nishizawa; SANAA