As the 2024 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate, the spotlight shines on Riken Yamamoto’s pioneering designs.
“My long-term objective is to design architecture that can bring joy to people around it, not only to my clients.”
— RikenYamamoto
From the transparent and welcoming Hiroshima Nishi Fire Station to the soothing, underground galleries of the Yokosuka Museum of Art, both in Japan, Yamamoto’s designs purposefully blur boundaries between private and public realms. His vision encourages societal relationships across cultures, ages, and economic backgrounds. Although most of his work can be found in his native Japan, Yamamoto has also completed remarkable projects in China, Korea, and Switzerland.
By adapting modernist architecture with Japanese influences, he cultivates harmony through buildings that are contextual to their natural and urban surroundings. From residences to schools and museums, his oeuvre uplifts the human experience through transparency and connectivity.
The unassuming 78-year-old is currently working on the Taoyuan Museum of Art in Taiwan, which consists of two sloped buildings with a railroad and a highway in between, a fabulous design covered in greenery designed to represent a gate to the city.
In a five-decade career, Yamamoto’s architectural vision reminds us that good design can inspire community belonging and social sustainability. His award cements a legacy of spaces that bring people together.
