2024 Pritzker Prize Laureate Riken Yamamoto at Cersaie

(September 2024) | Japanese architect Riken Yamamoto, winner of the 2024 Pritzker Architecture Prize, will deliver this year’s Keynote Lecture organised as part of Cersaie’s “Building, Dwelling, Thinking” cultural programme. The lecture will take place on Thursday 26 September at 11:00 a.m. in the Sala Europa of the Palazzo dei Congressi at BolognaFiere. Admission is free of charge, but advance registration is required.

Riken Yamamoto will be the 13th Pritzker Prize Laureate to deliver the prestigious and eagerly anticipated lecture at Cersaie, an event that solidifies the show’s reputation as a premier venue for the world of international architecture. The previous twelve Pritzker Laureates to give the lecture were Renzo Piano, Toyo Ito, Shigeru Ban, Kazuyo Sejima, Francis Kéré, Richard Rogers, Norman Foster, Thom Mayne, Shelley McNamara, Rafael Moneo, Glenn Murcutt and Eduardo Souto De Moura.

Born in China’s capital Beijing in 1945, Riken Yamamoto relocated to Yokohama, Japan after World War II. The son of an engineer and a pharmacist, Yamamoto gained his bachelor’s degree from Nihon University in 1968, then continued his studies at Tokyo University of the Arts, where he earned a Master of Arts in Architecture in 1971. Two years later, he founded his own firm, Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop, which he continues to direct. Unlike some of his compatriots who have also received the Pritzker Prize, Yamamoto’s five-decade architectural career has largely focused on Asia. His only major project outside the Asian continent is The Circle Convention Center in Zurich, a versatile convention, event and retail complex located close to the city’s airport. His other projects are predominantly located in Japan, China and the Republic of Korea, and include private residences, social housing complexes, educational facilities, university campuses, institutional headquarters, military barracks and museums. Yamamoto’s architectural philosophy is closely intertwined with social issues. “Every house is an integral part of a city, and every family is a vital component of the community,” he says. “The relationship between community and family, like the transition space between the city and private residences, is fundamental to the existence of the community.”

Nagoya Zokei University (photo courtesy Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop)

See the complete Cersaie 2024 calendar of events