Riken Yamamoto (山本理顕, Yamamoto Riken), born 1945 in Beijing, China[1][2] is a Japanese architect. In 2024, he received the Pritzker Architecture Prize,[3] considered to be the most prestigious award in architecture, becoming the 9th Japanese architect to receive such honor. [4][5]

Riken Yamamoto
Born1945
NationalityJapanese
Alma materNihon University, Tokyo University of the Arts
OccupationArchitect
Awards

Early life and education edit

Yamamoto was born to Japanese parents in Beijing, China. His parents had moved from Japan to China for his father's work as an engineer.[6] In 1947, the family returned to a Japan devastated by World War II. In 1949, after his father's death when he was four, Yamamoto moved to his mother's hometown of Yokohama.[6]

In 1967 he completed his bachelor's degree from Nihon University and in 1971 his master's degree from the Tokyo University of the Arts.[6] Afterwards he continued his studies at the University of Tokyo under Hiroshi Hara.[citation needed]

Career edit

Yamamoto founded the Yamamoto & Field Shop Co.Ltd in 1973.[6]

From 2000 to 2011 he was a professor at Yokohama National University and at the Graduate school of Engineering of the Nihon University. As of 2015 he taught at his alma mater Nihon University.[1][2]

Some of his most representative works are the Rotunda Building (Yokohama, 1981); the Hamlet Building (Tokio, Shibuya-Ku, 1988), or the apartment blocks Ryukoentoshi (Yokohama, 1992).[citation needed]

Recognition edit

Under the many awards Riken Yamamoto has won, the most recent achieved by him are: The Japan Institute of Architects Award for the Yokosuka Museum of Art (2010) Building Contractors Society Prize for the Namics Techno Core (2010), Building Contractors Society Prize for the Yokosuka Museum of Art (2008) or the 25th Fukushima Architecture Culture Award, highest award for the Fukushima ecoms Pavilion, SUS Fukushima Factory (2007).[7]

In 2024, Yamamoto was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize. On the occasion, architect and Jury Chair Alejandro Aravena stated about Yamamoto's work that "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. He is a reassuring architect who brings dignity to everyday life. Normality becomes extraordinary. Calmness leads to splendor."[5]

Selected works edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Riken Yamamoto". Barcelona Institute of Architecture. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  2. ^ a b "「地域社会圏」という考え方". 東西アスファルト事業協同組合. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  3. ^ Stathaki, Ellie (4 March 2024). "Riken Yamamoto wins 2024 Pritzker Architecture Prize". Wallpaper*.
  4. ^ "Riken Yamamoto Receives the 2024 Pritzker Architecture Prize". The Pritzker Architecture Prize. The Hyatt Foundation. 2024-03-05.
  5. ^ a b Harrouk, Christele (5 March 2023). "Japanese Architect Riken Yamamoto Receives the 2024 Pritzker Architecture Prize". ArchDaily. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d Neda Ulaby (2024-03-05). "Riken Yamamoto, who designs dignity and elegance into daily life, wins Pritzker Prize".
  7. ^ "Riken Yamamoto". www.mchmaster.com. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  8. ^ Li, Xinzhe (4 February 2015). "Yamamoto's Tianjin Library". MPTF. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  9. ^ "The Circle at Zurich Airport". thecircle.ch/. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  10. ^ "Japanese architect wins Zürich Airport's 'The Circle' contest". Tages-Anzeiger. 2 November 2010. Archived from the original on 12 October 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.

External links edit