GET TO KNOW PRITZKER PRIZE 2024, RIKEN YAMAMOTO, AN ARCHITECT WHO FOUNDED RIKEN YAMAMOTO & FIELD SHOP IN YOKOHAMA

TEXT: NATHATAI TANGCHADAKORN
PHOTO COURTESY OF TOMIO OHASHI EXCEPT AS NOTED

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Riken Yamamoto (b. 1945) was born shortly after the end of World War II. At age 17, he visited Kôfuku-ji Temple and was inspired by his first experience with architecture. He graduated from Nihon University, Department of Architecture, College of Science and Technology in 1968. He received a Master of Arts in Architecture from Tokyo University of the Arts, Faculty of Architecture, in 1971. He founded his practice, Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop, in 1973.

Hiroshima Nishi Fire Station

Hiroshima Nishi Fire Station

During the earliest years of his career, the architect spontaneously journeyed across countries, including driving along the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea, South America, and the Middle East to South Asia, and concluded that the idea of a ‘threshold’ between public and private spaces was universal. Yamamoto recognized that their ‘threshold’ was very similar.

THE CIRCLE | Photo courtesy of Flughafen Zürich AG

THE CIRCLE | Photo courtesy of Flughafen Zürich AG

Saitama Prefectural University | Photo courtesy of Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop

Yamamoto reconsidered boundaries between public and private realms as societal opportunities, believing that all spaces may enrich and serve the consideration of an entire community, not just those who occupy them. This idea was adapted into all scales of his works, from a single-family residence to an urban planning approach. Also, transparency, in form, material, and philosophy, remained an essential element in his works.

Hotakubo Housing | Photo courtesy of Shinkenchiku Sha

Hotakubo Housing

With this in mind, he began designing single-family residences that united natural and built environments with an open-air terrace as his first project, Yamakawa Villa. The experience significantly influenced his future works as he extended into social housing with Hotakubo Housing, bridging cultures and generations through relational living. Furthermore, he continued to prompt societies in large buildings such as Saitama Prefectural University that aim to develop education within local communities, where close mutual cooperation will be essential, and the Tianjin Library that uses the intersecting walls to create reading spaces that are as diverse as possible precisely because the library is so large in size. Yamamoto established an urban planning approach of Ryokuen-toshi, Yokohama. Regardless of a building’s identity or function, a regulation constitutes that all must allow passage through its site.

Tianjin Library | Photo courtesy of Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop

Tianjin Library | Photo courtesy of Nacasa & Partners

In the aftermath of the Tōhoku Earthquake and Tsunami in 2011, he established Local Area Republic Labo, an institute dedicated to community activities through architectural design. In 2018, he instituted the Local Republic Award to honor young architects who act with courage and ideals for the future.

Nagoya Zokei University | Photo courtesy of Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop

Nagoya Zokei University | Photo courtesy of Shinkenchiku Sha

Yamamoto is a newly appointed visiting professor at Kanagawa University. He was a visiting professor at Tokyo University of the Arts and has previously taught at Nihon University, Graduate School of Engineering, Yokohama National University, Graduate School of Architecture, and Kogakuin University, Department of Architecture. He also served as the President of Nagoya Zokei University of Art and Design from 2018 to 2022.

Throughout his career, he has received numerous distinctions, including the Mainichi Art Awards (1998), the Japan Arts Academy Award (2001), the Prize of the Architectural Institute of Japan (1988 and 2002), the Good Design Gold Award (2004 and 2005), the Public Buildings Prize (2004 and 2006), the Japan Institute of Architects Award (2010), and the most recent and prestigious one, the Pritzker Prize 2024.

Shinonome Canal Court CODAN

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