Japanese Architects Win 2010 Pritzker Architecture Prize (PHOTOS)

Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, partners in the Japanese architectural firm Sanaa, have won the 2010 Pritzker Architecture Prize, generally considered the prestigious award in the field.

The pair have designed mostly in Japan, but notable buildings overseas have included the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York and the Pavilion at the Serpentine Gallery in London.

"They explore like few others the phenomenal properties of continuous space, lightness, transparency and materiality to create a subtle synthesis," the award's jury said in a citation. "Sejima and Nishizawa's architecture stands in direct contrast with the bombastic and rhetorical. Instead, they seek the essential qualities of architecture that result in a much appreciated straightforwardness, economy of means and restraint in their work."

Below is a slideshow of some of their most famous buildings. Vote on which building you find the most striking.

All images courtesy of Sanaa.