Riken Yamamoto: Get to Know the 2024 Pritzker Winner's Work

Written by Paula Pintos
Published on March 05, 2024

This year's Pritzker Prize has been awarded to Riken Yamamoto, a Beijing-born architect who shortly after World War II established himself in Yokohama, Japan where he would develop a profound interest in architecture and how it could shape the lives of individuals and society. Yamamoto founded his practice, Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop, in 1973, only five years after graduating from Nihon University, Department of Architecture, College of Science and Technology, and after receiving his Master of Arts in Architecture from Tokyo University of the Arts, Faculty of Architecture in 1971. Since then, Yamamoto has been a professor and visiting professor in various universities and institutions including the Kogakuin University Department of Architecture, the Yokohama Graduate School of Architecture, and the Tokyo University of the Arts.

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The architecture of Yamamoto has a distinct central focus: his undeniable interest in building community. His built works, located throughout Japan, China, the Republic of Korea, and Switzerland, range from private residences to large-scale housing complexes, educational institutions, and civic spaces, all of which reflect the intent of blurring the boundaries between the public and private spheres while opening up connecting spaces that foster social interaction and opportunities for both building users and the community nearby.

Having traveled extensively and been inspired by various cultures, Yamamoto soon realized that the sense of belonging to a community was a shared desire throughout the globe. This realization has been translated into his works by not only responding to the intrinsic needs of a building itself but also by allowing for the freedom of what that architecture could become. His projects reflect a respectful treatment of the landscape and surroundings, achieved through simple forms and honest structures. He introduces spatial clarity with modular building systems and the concept of transparency, inviting interior spaces to be part of the environment outside. Terraces that encourage social interaction between neighbors, private spaces that open up for communal use, and urban passageways that allow buildings to connect with their context, are some of the resources that are present in Yamamoto's work. Get to know the 2024 Pritzker Laureate's projects below.