Japan's Riken Yamamoto, laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, speaks at his office on March 6, 2024, in Yokohama near Tokyo. - AP
NEW YORK: Japanese architect Riken Yamamoto was awarded the Pritzker prize for architecture on Tuesday (March 5), the organisers said in a statement, praising his "reassuring style."
Highlights of Yamamoto's work include Nagoya Zokei University in Japan completed in 2022, THE CIRCLE at Zurich Airport in Switzerland finished in 2020 and Tianjin Library in China unveiled in 2012.
"The Pritzker Architecture Prize announces Riken Yamamoto, of Yokohama, Japan, as the 2024 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the award that is regarded internationally as architecture's highest honour," the prize-givers said in the statement.
The prize citation said that Yamamoto was selected "above all for reminding us that in architecture, as in democracy, spaces must be created by the resolve of the people."
He will receive US$100,000 and an ornamental bronze medallion at an event typically held at an architecturally significant location.
"For me, to recognise space, is to recognise an entire community," Yamamoto said.
"The current architectural approach emphasizes privacy, negating the necessity of societal relationships. However, we can still honour the freedom of each individual while living together in architectural space."
The prize was founded in 1979 by the late mogul Jay Pritzker and his wife, Cindy, to honour a living architect whose work demonstrates "a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment," the organisers said.
"One of the things we need most in the future of cities is to create conditions through architecture that multiply the opportunities for people to come together and interact. By carefully blurring the boundary between public and private, Yamamoto contributes positively beyond the brief to enable community," said Alejandro Aravena, jury chair and 2016 Pritzker prize laureate.
"He is a reassuring architect who brings dignity to everyday life. Normality becomes extraordinary. Calmness leads to splendour."
Yamamoto is the 53rd winner of the prize and the ninth from Japan.
"Yamamoto develops a new architectural language that doesn't merely create spaces for families to live, but creates communities for families to live together," said Tom Pritzker, chair of the Hyatt Foundation, which sponsors the award.
"His works are always connected to society, cultivating a generosity in spirit and honouring the human moment."
Yamamoto was born in Beijing, and resides in Yokohama, Japan. He will be honoured in Chicago this spring.
Illustrious past prize winners include Britain's Norman Foster, Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, and Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi of India.
British architect and urban planner David Chipperfield won the 2023 edition. - AFP
