Kirk back after a bit of an absence. Today I read that YAMAMOTO Riken has won the Pritzker Architecture Prize. The statement on the Pritzker website includes the following sentence: “As founder and principal of architecture studio Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop, Yamamoto’s major works include Hotakubo Housing (1991) in Kumamoto, Japan, a complex of 110 units that share a central green space and adjacencies . . . " They listed the ken’ei jutaku (県営住宅; the low-cost housing development run by the prefecture) first!!
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/2024-pritzker-architecture-prize-riken-yamamoto
I’m particularly pleased that this public works project has received high praise because it’s only a few minutes walk from my home; I’m happy to be living in proximity to greatness. :)
Hiring top-notch architects like Yamamoto to do public works projects was part of the Artpolis project. “The Kumamoto Artpolis project was the brainchild of the then Governor of Kumamoto, Morihiro Hosokawa, and architect Arata Isozaki.”
https://www.japan-experience.com/all-about-japan/kumamoto/attractions-excursions/kumamoto-artpolis
Arata is another Pritzker Prize winner. Here’s something I posted about his connection to Artpolis a while back:
The Artpolis project also led to ANDO Tadao, yet another Pritzker Prize winner, designing buildings for Kumamoto. Click on the following to view previous posts about Ando’s work here:
https://www.facebook.com/profile/100064554018003/search?q=Ando%20Tadao
All in all, it looks like Kumamoto is quite a mecca for modern architecture! :)