It was founded in 1995 by architects Kazuyo Sejima (1956–) and Ryue Nishizawa (1966–), who were awarded the Pritzker Prize in 2010.
They later won the Golden Lion in 2004 for the most significant work in the Ninth International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale.
[5] Australia China England France Germany Japan Netherlands Italy Spain Switzerland Taiwan United States SANAA's work was included in the exhibition City of Girls in the Japanese Pavilion at the 2000 Venice Biennale and in the Garden Cafe at the 7th International Istanbul Biennale, Istanbul, Turkey.
Their work has also been exhibited at Zumtobel Staff-Lichtforum, Vienna, Austria; Institut Valencia d'Art Modern, Valencia, Spain; Zeche Zollverein, Essen, Germany; Gallery MA, Tokyo, Japan; N-museum, Wakayama, Japan and New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York.
SANAA has been awarded the Golden Lion for the most remarkable work in the exhibition Metamorph in the 9th International Architecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia in 2004, the 46th Mainichi Shinbun Arts Award (Architecture Category) in 2005, and the Schock Prize in the visual arts, also in 2005.