Michael Brand in conversation with SANAA architects

The director of the Art Gallery of NSW, Dr Michael Brand, will be joined by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa from the multiple award-winning Tokyo-based architectural firm SANAA on July 27, to discuss the ideas and creative vision informing the design for the Gallery’s new building — the Sydney Modern Project.

With ambitious art goals, the Gallery has been collaborating with SANAA – renowned for its architecturally ambitious, nature-inspired buildings – to develop an evolved and detailed design concept in consultation with staff and the wider community.

In recent years SANAA has completed several prominent cultural and educational projects such as Louvre-Lens Museum in France, Rolex Learning Center in Switzerland, New Museum in New York, and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Japan.

Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa were chosen as the 2010 Laureates of the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

“The buildings by Sejima and Nishizawa seem deceptively simple. The architects hold a vision of a building as a seamless whole, where the physical presence retreats and forms a sensuous background for people, objects, activities, and landscapes,” said the 2010 Pritzker Prize jury.

The Sydney Modern Project aims to create a global art museum for a global city, with new and expanded spaces for art, live performance and film along with spaces to study and participate in cultural programs.

“We have been working very closely with the Art Gallery of New South Wales to refine our initial concept design for the Sydney Modern Project,” says SANAA.

“Over the past months we have come to know the project site very well. We continue to learn more and more about its history, especially about the traditional owners of the land and the site’s importance today for them, and for all visitors.”

“Preservation and harmony with the landscape is a design priority. It is a challenging site including a land bridge over a road and a concrete roof over disused oil tanks.”

“Our intention is that the site will be of greater benefit to the people of Sydney and Australia, and visitors from around the world than it is currently.”

Wednesday 27 July 2016, 6.30pm

Price: Free

Duration: 30 minutes

Location: Entrance court

http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/calendar/michael-brand-sanaa/