Our employee received the “Gengo Matsui Special Award” of the Japan Structural Design Award

Our employee Saburo Iseya has been awarded the Gengo Matsui Special Prize of the Japan Structural Design Award (sponsored by the Japan Structural Engineers Club), which recognizes individuals whose activities have contributed to the development of architectural structural design over many years.

Saburo Iseya, AGB, was honored for his “outstanding contribution to architectural and structural design through façade engineering. Since joining the Central Research Laboratory of Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. in 1966, where he was involved in confirming the practical strength of glass, Iseya has continued to lead the field of glass facade engineering.

Until the early 1960s, glass was merely a covering material inserted into sashes, and the building’s supporting structure was a shady entity covered by a steel and concrete exterior. However, the numerous sashless glass construction methods that Iseya helped develop increased the transparency of the building and brought the structure behind it out into the open. This has increased the opportunity for structural engineers to take on the challenge of creating delicate and attractive structures, and has been recognized for giving structural engineers a place to play an active role in the field.
The 18th Japan Structural Design Award in 2023 Gengo Matsui Special Prize: Saburo Iseya Career and Achievements (at the time of the award)

▼ About the Gengo Matsui Special Prize
The Gengo Matsui Special Prize was established as a successor to the Gengo Matsui Award.
Gengo Matsui is a structural designer who has worked on numerous architectural projects with renowned architects such as Kiyonori Kikutake and Kisho Kurokawa. The Gengo Matsui Award was established in 1990, upon Gengo’s retirement from Waseda University, with the aim of improving the social reputation of structural designers. In 2008, the “Gengo Matsui Special Award” was established. The Gengo Matsui Award for Structural Design in Japan is given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the development of structural design over the years, and has been awarded to Werner Zoubek, Akira Wada, Shigeru Hikone, and others.