Japanese architect
Riken Yamamoto (b. 1945) was born in
Beijing, People’s Republic of China
and relocated to Yokohama, Japan
shortly after the end of World War
II. Negotiating a balance between
public and private dimensions from
childhood, he lived in a home that
was modeled after a traditional
Japanese machiya, with his mother’s
pharmacy in the front and their
living area in the rear. Yamamoto, architect and social advocate, establishes kinship between public and private realms, inspiring harmonious societies despite a diversity of identities, economies, politics, infrastructures, and housing systems. Deeply embedded in upholding community life, he asserts that the value of privacy has become an urban sensibility, when in fact, members of a community should sustain one another. He defines community as a “sense of sharing one space,” deconstructing traditional notions of freedom and privacy while rejecting longstanding conditions that have reduced housing into a commodity without relation to neighbors. Instead, he bridges cultures, histories and multi-generational citizens, with sensitivity, by adapting international influence and modernist architecture to the needs of the future, allowing life to thrive.
By reconsidering boundary as a
space, he activates the
threshold between public and
private lives, achieving social
value with every project, as
each abounds with places for
engagement and chance encounters.
Small- and large-scale built
works alike demonstrate masterly
qualities of the spaces
themselves, providing focus on
the life that each one frames.
Transparency is utilized so that
those from within may experience
the environment that lies beyond,
while those passing by may feel
a sense of belonging. He offers
a consistent continuity of
landscape, designing in
discourse to the preexisting
natural and building
environments to contextualize
the experience of each building.
Shinonome Canal Court CODAN
“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,” explains Alejandro
Aravena, Jury Chair and 2016
Pritzker Prize Laureate. “He is
a reassuring architect who
brings dignity to everyday life.
Normality becomes extraordinary.
Calmness leads to splendor.” |