SHARED GROUND

Pritzker Prize laureate Riken Yamamoto champions architecture with visibility, continuity and community in an increasingly privatised world

- Asih Jenie

Japanese architect and 2024 Pritzker Prize laureate Riken Yamamoto was the star keynote speaker at this year's Singapore Archifest Conference, the professional three-day programme of Archifest, the country's month-long architecture festival organised by the Singapore Institute of Architects.

This year's edition, helmed by festival director Rene Tan and his team at RT+Q Architects under the theme “Don’t (Just) Think Like an Architect!”, encouraged the industry to embrace architecture as a cultural connector, a civic catalyst, and a force for new ways of thinking.

Born in 1945 in Beijing at the tail end of the Japanese empire, Yamamoto's five-decade career has consistently embodied architecture as a civic act. From his own home—nicknamed “Gazebo” for its minimal use of solid walls and deliberate openness to the broader community—to award-winning, large-scale projects across typologies like the Tianjin Library and The Circle at Zurich Airport (the project he highlighted in his keynote), Yamamoto explores architecture's power to connect.

Beyond his built work under his practice, Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop, he has also held teaching appointments at several of the world's most prestigious academic institutions. His most recent accolade was the 2025 Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum, recognising his outstanding contributions to community regeneration, sustainability, and design for social impact.

AGAINST ISOLATION