The Pritzker Architecture Prize releases a special ceremony video celebrating 2024 Laureate, Riken Yamamoto, available now on www.pritzkerprize.com. The documentary-style video recognizes the 53rd Laureate awarded this past May in Chicago (United States of America), the hometown of Cindy Pritzker, in honor of her centennial birthday, who co-founded the award with her late husband, Jay A. Pritzker, in 1979

.Viewers will glimpse lesser-known traditions that precede the ceremony such as Cindy’s Dinner, a gathering for the newest Laureate to be welcomed by their family of fellow Laureates and the Jurors who appointed them, which occurred this year at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion. The Laureate Lecture and Panel Discussion featuring Yamamoto; Anne Lacaton, recently-appointed Juror and 2021 Laureate; Jean-Philippe Vassal, 2021 Laureate; and Francis Kéré, 2020 Laureate, was hosted at S.R. Crown Hall, in partnership with Illinois Institute of Technology’s College of Architecture and Chicago Architecture Center. 

“Architecture is a tool to achieve a much bigger goal and creating a sense of community in a world that is desperate to get that may be the way that we architects can give a modest contribution” reflects Alejandro Aravena, Jury Chair and 2016 Laureate. “But in the case of Yamamoto-san it’s not just modest, it’s grandiose.” 

From the ceremony stage situated in the Art Institute Chicago, Tom Pritzker, Chairman of The Hyatt Foundation, which sponsors the award, addresses the audience, “Life is about balance and that takes us to tonight’s Laureate, Riken Yamamoto. In Riken we can see a deep respect not only for mother nature but also for human nature. If you add to that the idea of balance, you begin to get insights around Riken.”

In addition to the full remarks from the 46th anniversary of the Prize, the video offers commentary from past Laureates. Lord Norman Foster OM, 1999 Laureate, shares, “Cities, you could argue, are our greatest invention. They bring people together with a sense of community... [Yamamoto’s] work is much more than the standalone architecture of a building. It’s very much about the fabric of a city—the essence of our society.” He is joined by additional Laureates including Sir David Chipperfield CH (2023), Yvonne Farrell (2020), Rafael Aranda (2017), Carme Pigem (2017), Ramon Vilalta (2017), Shigeru Ban (2014), Ryue Nishizawa (2010, and Glenn Murcutt (2002).

“[Yamamoto’s] work is exquisite and precise,” discusses Deborah Berke, Juror and Dean at the Yale School of Architecture, “but I think the most important thing about it is how subtle it is and how willing he is as an architect to let the buildings be background in order to foreground human interaction.” Other fellow Jurors, Barry Bergdoll, Stephen Breyer, André Corrêa do Lago, Kazuyo Sejima, 2010 Laureate and Wang Shu, 2012 Laureate, who recently retired from the Jury, alongside Manuela Lucá-Dazio, Executive Director, discuss the legacy of Yamamoto’s social advocacy through his works.

In a personal closing speech, a humble Yamamoto discerns the humanitarian impact of the Prize, elaborating, “It’s really important for the world—from the architect—the social message…so I’m really proud of this Pritzker Prize.”

The 2025 Laureate will be announced next March, commemorating the 47th edition of the Prize. 

Release: The Pritzker Architecture Prize