Koyasu Elementary School, Yokohama, Japan, 2018

In the vast canvas of history, the paintbrush of recognition occasionally chooses to highlight lesser-known artists, who are pulled out of the shadows of anonymity and given the transcendence awaiting them. This past 5 March, the jury of the Pritzker Prize named the Japanese architect Riken Yamamoto the new recipient of an accolade which the Hyatt Foundation awards year after year to the world’s best architect. The announcement caused quite a stir; whilst half the planet had never heard his name, the other half found itself in a whirlpool of speculations. Who was Riken Yamamoto and what architectural contributions had he made to be worthy of such a prestigious recognition?...[+]