Sasaki, Mutsuro – SAP / Sasaki and Partners
SAP / Sasaki and Partners
Main Office: Tokyo, Japan
Additional U.S. Offices:
Watertown, Massachusetts
Denver, Colorado
Engineering Specialties:
Advanced structural engineering
Complex architectural formations
Computer algorithm based shape design of free-curved surfaces
Extended Evolutionary Structural Optimization
Intertwining frame and spatial structures
Planning & Urban Design
Interior Design
History:
After working with Kimura Structural Engineers for ten years, Mutsuro Sasaki established Sasaki Structural Consultants (now Sasaki and Partners / SAP) in 198O. The Japanese engineer — who previously taught at Nagoya University — currently professes at Hosei University in Tokyo. [1] Sasaki’s recent research has primarily focused on pushing the envelope on an advanced structural design technique known as design or shape analysis. This analysis employs a process that directly finds the optimum structure type and shape that satisfies the prescribed design parameters of the desired space. [2] By utilizing methods of structural mechanics as an integrated design method, Sasaki and his colleagues have in essence created a backwards approach to the conventional sequential structural analysis. Sasaki accredits Mies van der Rohe and Antonio Gaudi as the most influential frame and spatial architects, respectively, as he seeks to tactfully create structurally efficient buildings that embody and exemplify both types of architecture. [3] Recently, Sasaki has teamed with Japanese architects Toyo Ito and Arata Isozaki to help bring to life free-flowing forms of organic architecture such as their I Project, Sendai Mediatheque and the Tama Art University Library.
Selected Projects:
Sendai Mediatheque – Sendai, Miyagi, Japan [4]
Tama Art University Library – Toyko, Japan [5]
Florence Train Station – Florence, Italy [6]
New Museum of Contemporary Art – New York City, New York, USA [7]
Toledo Museum of Art Glass Pavilion – Toledo, Ohio, USA [8]
Rolex Learning Centre – Lausanne, Switzerland [9]
Matsudai Cultural Centre – Matsudai, Japan [10]
References:
[1] http://archive.metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/589/art.asp
[2] http://archrecord.construction.com/tech/techFeatures/0803feature-1.asp
[3] Flux Structure – Mutsuro Sasaki, TOTO Shuppan, 2005
[4] http://www.miyagitheme.jp/cd1/main_data/photo_data/photo_sendai/sendai_mediatheque.jpg
[5] http://www.archdaily.com/22711/tama-art-university-library-toyo-ito-by-iwan-baan/
[6] http://archrecord.construction.com/tech/techFeatures/0803feature/1.asp
[7] http://www.architecturelist.com/2008/01/29/new-museum-of-contemporary-art-in-new-york/
[8] http://www.tropolism.com/2006/08/toledo_glass_pavilion_opens.php
[9] http://www.rolexlearningcenter.ch/the_building/
[10] http://aedesign.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/matsudai-cultural-centre-matsudai-japan/
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