The Japanese Riken Yamamoto, winner of the 2024 Pritzker Prize, the “Nobel Prize” of architecture
At the age of 78, Riken Yamamoto won the most prestigious distinction in the field of architecture.
The Japanese architect is especially considered for his ability to create links between spaces and society.
Japanese architect Riken Yamamoto, winner of the 2024 Pritzker Prize. © Photo courtesy of Tom Welsh and the Pritzker Architecture Prize
By: Siegfried Forster Follow
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For the Pritzker Prize jurors, Riken Yamamoto is “
an architect and social activist
” with a talent for creating “
harmonious societies despite the diversity of identities, economies, policies, infrastructure and housing
”.
The Japanese architect himself defines his philosophy as follows: “
For me, recognizing a space is recognizing an entire community
.
» Yamamoto deliberately wants to distinguish himself from others: “
The current architectural approach emphasizes privacy, denying the need for social relationships.
However, we can still honor the freedom of each individual while living together in architectural space as a republic, fostering harmony across cultures and phases of life.
»
An architecture between private space and public space
Born in 1945 in Beijing, Riken Yamamoto's family settled shortly after the end of World War II in Yokohama, Japan.
In his childhood memories, he often thinks of the death of his father, an engineer, which occurred when Riken was 5 years old, but especially of the family home inspired by a traditional Japanese machiya, where his mother's pharmacy is located at the 'front and family space at the rear.
From this experience probably comes his innate sense for a strong balance between private space and public space.
At the age of 17, a spiritual experience shaped his future philosophy and was probably decisive for his decision to study architecture.
During a visit to the Kôfuku-ji temple in Nara, he was confronted with the five Buddhist elements: earth, water, fire, air and space symbolized by the five floors of the pagoda.
Two years after his master's degree in architecture from the Tokyo University of the Arts, in 1973 he founded his firm, Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop.
Yokosuka Museum of Art, by Japanese architect Riken Yamamoto, winner of the 2024 Pritzker Prize. © Courtesy of Tomio Ohashi and of the Pritzker Architecture Prize
Consider the entire community
For the Pritzker Prize jury, Yamamoto "
reconsidered the boundaries between public and private realms as societal opportunities, committing to the belief that all spaces can enrich and serve the consideration of an entire community, not just those which occupy them.
With this in mind, he began designing single-family residences that united natural and built environments, welcoming both guests and passers-by.
His first project, the Yamakawa Villa (Nagano, Japan 1977), is exposed on all sides and set in the woods, designed to look entirely like an open-air terrace.
This experience significantly influenced his future work, as he ventured into social housing with Hotakubo Housing (Kumamoto, Japan 1991), bridging cultures and generations through a relational lifestyle.
»
Today, Yamamoto continues to work and reside in Yokohama, in community with his neighbors.
On the other hand, his built works are found mainly in Asia, Japan, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, but also in Europe, for example the extension of Zurich airport (2020), in Switzerland, where he linked offices, services and restaurants to connect both people to each other and to the hill around them, that is to say, to interweave the interior with the exterior and vice versa, image of a village connected to the outside world.
The jury honors Yamamoto's ability to design and construct his buildings in response to the changes in today's world.
Yokosuka Art Museum
Prior to this final Pritzker Prize award, Riken Yamamoto was named an Academician by the International Academy of Architecture (2013) and received numerous honors, including the Japan Institute of Architecture Prize (1988 and 2002) and the Japan Academy of Arts Prize (2001), but also the Japanese Institute of Architects Prize for the Yokosuka Art Museum (2010), which he designed both as a destination for travelers and as a place of daily rest for locals.
The Pritzker Prize is awarded to him "
in recognition of qualities of talent, vision and commitment who have consistently made significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture
."
» For the jury, Yamamoto succeeded in blurring in architecture “
the boundaries between its public and private dimensions, and by multiplying the opportunities for spontaneous encounters between people, thanks to precise and rational design strategies
”.
Read alsoBurkina Faso: architect Diébédo Francis Kéré becomes the first African to win the Pritzker Prize
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