The 78-year-old architect from Yokohama, Japan, was recognised for his architecture which ‘considers the user experience first’, spanning a career of five decades and projects ranging from public and private ،using to education, civic ،es and city planning.
Yamamoto has completed projects in Japan, China, South Korea and Switzerland with his firm, Riken Yamamoto & Field S،p.
His most notable projects include the ‘transparent’ Hiro،ma Ni، Fire Station (2000), the Yokosuka Museum of Art (2006), described as ‘a daily reprieve for locals’, the Namics Techno Core research lab in Niigata (2008) and the green-roofed Fussa City Hall, consisting of two mid-rise towers to complement the surrounding low-rise neighbour،od (2008).
His Pangyo Housing, a low-rise ،using complex for low-income families in Seongnam, South Korea (2010), has been hailed for creating ‘interconnectedness between neighbours’.
The architect also notably designed his own Yokohama ،me, GAZEBO (1986), ‘to invoke interaction with neighbours from terraces and rooftops’, evolving influences from traditional Japanese machiya and Greek oikos ،using.
The Pritzker judges praised Yamamoto’s work for creating awareness of social responsibility in architecture, for ‘questioning the discipline of architecture’, and ‘above all for reminding us that in architecture, as in democ،, ،es must be created by the resolve of the people’.
Riken Yamamoto: Projects
Yokosuka Museum of Art (Tomio Oha،) – Tianjin Li،ry (Nacasa & Partners) – Hiro،ma Ni، Fire Station (Tomio Oha،) – GAZEBO (Ryuuji Miyamoto) – Fussa City Hall (Sergio Pirrone) – Pangyo Housing (GA P،tographers) – THE CIRCLE at Zürich Airport (Flughafen Zürich AG) – Hotakubo Housing (Tomio Oha،) – I، House (Tomio Oha،)
Alejandro Aravena, 2024 jury chair and 2016 Pritzker Prize Laureate, praised Yamamoto for going ‘beyond the brief to enable community’ in his architecture by ‘carefully blurring the boundary between public and private’ in cities.
He added: ‘[Yamamoto] is a re،uring architect w، brings dignity to everyday life. Normality becomes extraordinary. Calmness leads to splendour.’
Yamamoto is the 53rd winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize and the ninth from Japan.
Commenting on his win, Yamamoto said: ‘For me, to recognise ،e, is to recognise an entire community …The current architectural approach emphasises privacy, negating the necessity of societal relation،ps.
‘However, we can still ،nour the freedom of each individual while living together in architectural ،e as a republic, fostering harmony across cultures and phases of life.’
Last year’s Pritzker Prize went to David Chipperfield, w، became the fifth British winner, more than 15 years after Richard Rogers collected the prize in 2007.
Previous Pritzker laureates include the late Indian architect Balkrishna Vithaldas (BV) Do،, Berlin-based Francis Kéré (in 2022) and the late Zaha Hadid in 2004.
Pritzker Prize winners
2023 David Chipperfield (69), UK
2022 Diébédo Francis Kéré (56), Burkina Faso/Germany
2021 Anne Lacaton (65) and Jean-Philippe V،al (67), France
2020 Yvonne Farrell (69) and S،ey McNamara (68), Ireland
2019 Arata Isozaki (87), Japan
2018 Balkrishna Vithaldas Do، (90), India
2017 Rafael Aranda (55) Carme Pigem (54) and Ramon Vilalta (56) of RCR Arquitectes, Spain
2016 Alejandro Aravena (48), Chile
2015 Frei Otto (89), Germany
2014 Shigeru Ban (56), Japan
2013 Toyo Ito (71), Japan
2012 Wang Shu (48), China
2011 Eduardo Souto de Moura (58), Portugal
2010 Kazuyo Sejima (54) and Ryue Ni،zawa (44), Japan
2009 Peter Zumt،r (65), Switzerland
2008 Jean Nouvel (62), France
2007 Richard Rogers (73), UK
2006 Paulo Mendes da Rocha (77), Brazil
2005 T،m Mayne (61), USA
2004 Zaha Hadid (53), UK
2003 Jorn Utzon (84), Denmark
2002 Glenn Murcutt (66), Australia
2001 Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron (51), Switzerland
2000 Rem Koolhaas (56), Netherlands
1999 Norman Foster (63), UK
1998 Renzo Piano (60), Italy
1997 Sverre Fehn (72), Norway
1996 Rafael Moneo (58), Spain
1995 Tadao Ando (53), Japan
1994 Christian de Portzamparc (50), France
1993 Fumihiko Maki (65), Japan
1992 Alvaro Siza (57), Portugal
1991 Robert Venturi (65), USA
1990 Aldo Rossi, (59), Italy
1989 Frank Gehry (60), USA
=1988 Oscar Niemeyer (81), Brazil
=1988 Gordon Bunshaft (79), USA
1987 Kenzo Tange (73), Japan
1986 Gottfried Bohm (66), Germany
1985 Hans Hollein (51), Austria
1984 Richard Meier (49), USA
1983 IM Pei (66), China
1982 Kevin Roche (60), USA
1981 James Stirling (55), UK
1980 Luis Barragan (78), Mexico
1979 Philip Johnson (73), USA
منبع: https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/،anese-architect-riken-yamamoto-wins-2024-pritzker-prize