Pritzker Laureate Riken Yamamoto: Keynote Speaker at CERSAIE 2024

The 41^st edition of CERSAIE, the International Exhibition of Ceramic Tile and Bathroom Furnishings, due to be held in Bologna from September 23 TO 27, 2024, will further cement its status as the premier global showcase of innovative materials and solutions, with big names in architecture to participate in its cultural programme. Japanese architect Riken Yamamoto, winner of the 2024 Pritzker Architecture Prize, is to deliver this year’s keynote lecture organised as part of CERSAIE’s “Building, Dwelling, Thinking” cultural programme.

The keynote lecture will take place on September 26, at 11:00 a.m. in the Sala Europa of the Palazzo dei Congressi at BolognaFiere, according to officials of CERSAIE 2024.

Riken Yamamoto will be the 13th Pritzker Prize Laureate to deliver the prestigious and eagerly anticipated lecture at CERSAIE, an event that solidifies the show’s reputation as a premier venue for the world of international architecture. The previous twelve Pritzker Laureates to give the lecture were Renzo Piano, Toyo Ito, Shigeru Ban, Kazuyo Sejima, Francis Kéré, Richard Rogers, Norman Foster, Thom Mayne, Shelley McNamara, Rafael Moneo, Glenn Murcutt and Eduardo Souto De Moura.

Born in China’s capital Beijing in 1945, Yamamoto relocated to Yokohama, Japan after World War II. The son of an engineer and a pharmacist, Yamamoto gained his bachelor’s degree from Nihon University in 1968, then continued his studies at Tokyo University of the Arts, where he earned a Master of Arts in Architecture in 1971. Two years later, he founded his own firm, Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop, which he continues to direct. Unlike some of his compatriots who have also received the Pritzker Prize, Yamamoto’s five-decade architectural career has largely focused on Asia. His only major project outside the Asian continent is The Circle Convention Center in Zurich, a versatile convention, event and retail complex located close to the city’s airport. His other projects are predominantly located in Japan, China and the Republic of Korea, and include private residences, social housing complexes, educational facilities, university campuses, institutional headquarters, temporary housing in Heita disaster area and museums. Yamamoto’s architectural philosophy is closely intertwined with social issues. “Every house is an integral part of a city, and every family is a vital component of the community,” he says. “The relationship between community and family, like the transition space between the city and private residences, is fundamental to the existence of the community.”

Yamamoto reconsidered boundaries between public and private realms as societal opportunities, committing to the belief that all spaces may enrich and serve the consideration of an entire community, and not just those who occupy them.

Other Architects to participate in CERSAIE 2024

CERSAIE aims to maintain its important function as a place for dialogue between industry professionals and the international architecture community through its “Building, Dwelling, Thinking” cultural programme. This year, the International Ceramic Tile and Bathroom Furnishings Exhibition will host a conference given by Belgian architect David Van Severen on September  25, 2024 at 3 p.m.

David Van Severen was born in 1978 in Ghent. He studied at the University of Ghent and at the ETSA in Madrid, Spain. In 2002 he founded the Brussels-based studio OFFICE in partnership with Kersten Geers. OFFICE has received numerous honours and awards, including the Belgian Prize for Architecture, the Silver Lion at the 12th Venice Architecture Biennale and the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

OFFICE operates as a collaborative studio, uniting architects, developers and experts from various fields to guarantee the excellence of each project. The studio’s work is pragmatic and innovative, deeply anchored in diverse architectural traditions and ranging in scale and typology from furniture design to urban planning. Notable ongoing projects include the Aerospacelab megafactory in Charleroi, Belgium, the Swiss Radio and Television building in Lausanne, Switzerland, and the VRT headquarters in Brussels. The studio combines practice with academic research and teaching, creating synergies between practical and theoretical aspects of architecture.

On Thursday 26 September at 3 p.m., the “building, dwelling, thinking” cultural programme at CERSAIE 2024 will host a conference by French architect Rudy Ricciotti, an event-within-an-event that reaffirms Cersaie’s role as a key venue for dialogue among industry professionals and leading international architects.

Rudy Ricciotti has been described by French designer Philippe Stark as “a clairvoyant, untameable wild animal”, a compliment intended by Stark as the highest form of praise.

Born in Algiers in 1952, Rudy Ricciotti is a French architect of Italian origin with a studio overlooking the Mediterranean in the town of Bandol on the Côte d’Azur. He has received numerous awards, including the Grand Prix National d’Architecture, the Médaille d’Or de l’Académie d’Architecture, the Auguste-Perret Prize from the International Union of Architects (UIA), Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur. He is one of the most representative of a generation of architects who combine the power of creation with a deep understanding of the culture of construction. A pioneer and ambassador of concrete, he has used this material in landmark projects such as the Vitrolles Stadium (1994), the National Choreographic Centre – the Black Pavilion in Aix-en-Provence (2006), the Jean Cocteau Museum in Menton (2011), and the Department of Islamic Arts at the Louvre Museum in Paris.