Riken Yamamoto, an esteemed Japanese architect, has been honoured with the 2024 Pritzker Architecture Prize, internationally recognized as the highest accolade in its field. His award-winning work is celebrated for its unique approach to fostering community through architecture.
Yamamoto’s notable projects include Hotakubo Housing, his first social housing project, and Pangyo Housing, which features a communal deck on the first floor to promote resident interaction. He is the 53rd laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize and the ninth from Japan.
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>The Pritzker Prize, often referred to as the “Nobel Prize of Architecture,” is given annually to a living architect or architects. Established by Jay A. Pritzker and his wife Cindy, the inaugural prize was awarded to Philip Johnson in 1979 for his 50 years of impactful work in architecture.
>Laureates of the Pritzker Prize receive a $100,000 grant, a formal citation certificate, and a bronze medallion. The medallion’s design is inspired by the work of architect Louis Sullivan, with an inscription from Ancient Roman architect Vitruvius: “firmitas, utilitas, venustas” (firmness, commodity, and delight).
>Some notable architects to have won the award include Frank Gehry (1989) of Gugenheim Bilbao fame, Norman Foster (1999), a British architect whose high-tech designs have contributed to the modern cityscape and Rem Koolhaas (2000), a Dutch architect whose designs for structures range from the US to Qatar to China.
>In 2004, Zaha Hadid became the first woman to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize. The Iraqi-British architect designed the London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympics. Her firm was appointed to design the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA).