Itsuko Hasegawa
"I often use the Japanese term harrapa (meaning a casual, free, and relaxed open space filled with light and greenery) to describe my architecture"
- Itsuko Hasegawa
- Itsuko Hasegawa
Bio.
Istuko Hasegawa was born in Shizuoka, Japan in 1941. She studied and graduated form Shanto Gakuin in Japan in 1964. After this she went to work for a well renowned architect in Japan named Kiyonori Kikutake. She studied alongside Kikutake up until 1969 when she went back to school. Sh went to the Tokyo Institute of Technology as a graduate student under the mentoring of Kazuo Shinohara. She then worked as his assistant for the next eight years. After that time period she was able to set up her own architecture firm, Itsuko Hasegawa Atelier. She and her firm produced many buildings ranging from residential houses all the way to public buildings.
Noted works.
Over the years Hasegawa has made many houses and also public buildings that one would consider "social buildings". Many of her designs alongside with her talent have been recognized with awards. One award that she won was the Design prize from the Architectural Institute of Japan in 1986. Some of her other famous works include the Niigata Performing Arts Center, Cardiff Bay Opera Hose, and the Yamanashi Fruit Garden (pictured right). The Fruit Garden consists of a series of domes that are connected that have to do something with fruit. The different shapes and sizes are meant to symbolize the variety that fruit gives.