Japan Office

Photograph ©Aiko Suzuki

Japanese architect Kazuyo Sejima will be awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Oxford for her outstanding contributions to the field of architecture. The degree will be awarded at Encaenia, the Unviersity’s annual honorary degree ceremony on 22 June 2016.

Professor Sejima is Principal of the award-winning architectural firm SANAA, Professor at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, and the Polytechnic University of Milan, Visiting Professor at Japan Women’s University, co-winner of the Pritzker Prize, and Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Among her most notable works are the Louvre-Lens in France, and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, both of which she designed with her partner in SANAA Ryue Nishizawa.

Encaenia is an annual ceremony in which the University of Oxford awards honorary degrees to distinguished men and women, and commemorates its benefactors. Steeped in history and tradition, the ceremony takes place every year in the Sheldonian Theatre. Honorands and high-ranking officials of the University first enjoy peaches, strawberries and champagne in one of the Colleges and then take part in a procession in full academic dress through Oxford to the ceremony in the Sheldonian. Past awardees include Aung San Suu Kyi who received her honorary degree in 2012.