Architect Riken Yamamoto wins the Pritzker Prize, the “Nobel Prize of Architecture”

Architect Riken Yamamoto has been selected as this year's recipient of America's Pritzker Prize, which is given to internationally outstanding architects and is also known as the ``Nobel Prize of architecture.''

The Pritzker Prize is the most prestigious award in the architecture world and is also called the ``Nobel Prize of architecture.''

On the 5th, the sponsoring American foundation announced that it had selected architect Riken Yamamoto as this year's recipient of the award.

Mr. Yamamoto is 78 years old.

He was born in what is now Beijing, China, and after studying architecture at Nihon University, he was involved in the design of numerous public buildings and private residences.

Representative buildings in Japan include the Yokosuka Museum of Art in Kanagawa Prefecture, Future University Hakodate in Hokkaido, and overseas the complex facility ``The Circle'' in Zurich, Switzerland.

One of the characteristics of Mr. Yamamoto's architecture is that the exterior walls are made of wide transparent glass so that the inside can be seen, and that he incorporates open spaces.

The foundation believes that these features serve to obscure the boundaries between the inside and outside of the building and increase opportunities for people to gather and interact through the building.

The Pritzker Prize began in 1979, and previous recipients include Kenzo Tange and Tadao Ando, ​​and he is the ninth Japanese person to receive the award, following Arata Isozaki, who won in 2019.

Riken Yamamoto ``Focus on community''

Riken Yamamoto (78), who was selected as the winner of the Pritzker Prize, said in an interview with NHK, ``Unlike other architects, I have always thought that my architecture, which makes strong social proposals, would not be associated with the award.'' I was really surprised and couldn't think of anything better to say other than "I'm very happy," he said of his joy at receiving the award.

Hiroshima City Nishi Fire Station

As an architect, Mr. Yamamoto has consistently focused on the connection between people and "community," which is being lost in modern society.

I have been thinking of using the power of architecture to encourage people who share a "community" to build relationships that are not just based on living in the same area, but where they can help each other, even if they are not family members.

Mr. Yamamoto cited Hiroshima City's Nishi Fire Station, which was completed in 2000, as an example of architecture that is conscious of building a "community."

The exterior walls of the building, which has one basement floor and eight floors above ground, are covered with glass, and is designed to allow you to see what's going on inside the building from outside.

Regarding this building, Mr. Yamamoto said, ``It would be extremely reassuring for people in the community to be able to see from the outside that firefighters are there 24 hours a day, training and preparing for disasters. I think that even if it is a highly public building or a very private building, efforts are made to open it to the outside and make it visible to the outside. I think this point was highly praised," he said, emphasizing the importance of taking the "community" into consideration when designing a building.

Pangyo Housing

In his career spanning half a century, Mr. Yamamoto has designed not only these highly public facilities, but also numerous residential buildings.

One of the most representative buildings is Pangyo Housing, which was built in Seongnam City, a suburb of South Korea's capital, Seoul, and is made up of multiple housing complexes that can accommodate around 10 units.

Each building has a large glass entrance hall facing a common plaza, designed to encourage interaction between residents.

Mr. Yamamoto said, ``Traditional houses around the world were built with the idea of ​​living together as a community, but with modernization, individual privacy has become important, and in order to protect that, we are building one house at a time. Separate housing has become commonplace.I believe that depending on the construction method, it is possible to create a space that values ​​``community'' while at the same time valuing the privacy of individuals and families. "I made a proposal, and I think the Pritzker Prize judges appreciated that point very highly."

Hirata everyone's house

Mr. Yamamoto also participated in a volunteer activity together with architect Toyo Ito, who also won the Pritzker Prize, to build a meeting place to serve as a place of relaxation for those affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake 13 years ago.

Hirata Minna no Ie, a meeting place in a temporary housing complex in Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture, designed by Mr. Yamamoto and completed in 2012, is equipped with a kitchen so that people can enjoy cooking and drinking. .

In the areas affected by the Noto Peninsula earthquake that occurred in January this year, not only homes but also fishing ports and Wajima lacquerware workshops, which support key industries, were severely damaged. Recognizing the importance of rebuilding houses while protecting them, we plan to visit the disaster-stricken areas and exchange opinions with local residents and architects.

Mr. Yamamoto said, ``I believe that reconstruction can only proceed if there is a plan for what kind of town to build, and that we as architects can help with that.What kind of town should we live in? I think there is a way to rebuild that preserves the memories of what happened and cherishes the ``landscape'' and ``community'' that we have lived in up until now, so I would like to think about that method together with the people in the disaster-stricken areas.'' I talked about my determination.