The 2024 Praemium Imperiale Architecture Award has been offered to Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, it has been announced today. The prestigious global arts prize is awarded annually by the Japan Art Association, and this year praised Ban for his innovative work with timber, paper and bamboo architecture structures.
Architect Shigeru Ban
Shigeru Ban: 2024 Praemium Imperiale Architecture Award winner
Shigeru Ban has been known for his forward-thinking, sustainably minded structures, which have been erected across the world. Examples include the Centre Pompidou-Metz, Aspen Art Museum and Mt. Fuji World Heritage Centre. His studio has also undertaken pro bono work numerous times, working to create temporary shelters, emergency building systems, community centres and spiritual places for victims of natural disasters and conflicts across Rwanda, Syria, Turkey India, China, Italy, Haiti and Japan.
Christchurch Cardboard Cathedral, 2013 New Zealand
The Praemium Imperiale Awards are presented by the Japan Art Association under the honorary patronage of HIH Prince Hitachi, younger brother of the Emperor Emeritus of Japan. Each Laureate receives an honorarium of 15 million Yen (c. £73,000). Past Architecture Laureates include Renzo Piano, Frank Gehry, Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, David Chipperfield, and Zaha Hadid.
Ban's work was also celebrated recently in an XXL Taschen publication, titled Shigeru Ban. Complete Works 1985 – Today, which looks at the architect's entire oeuvre and was penned by Philip Jodidio.
Simose Art Museum, 2023
The prize includes more categories beyond architecture - the award for painting was given to Sophie Calle; for Theatre/Film to Ang Lee; for music to Maria João Pires; and for sculpture to Doris Salcedo.
-
Porsche saves the best until last with the stunning 718 Boxster GTS 4.0Could this be the last ever Porsche Boxster with a combustion engine? If so, the 718 GTS 4.0 is the best iteration of the Boxster to date
-
Vinyl, darts, and design: how Audemars Piguet reimagined the watch boutique for ManchesterThe latest AP House from watchmaker Audemars Piguet displays design codes that nod to the legacy of its location
-
Copenhagen’s Noma opens its first café and flavour shopOEO Studio transforms the former entrance to the three-Michelin-starred restaurant into a tactile space inspired by laboratory precision
-
RIBA Stirling Prize 2025 winner is ‘a radical reimagining of later living’Appleby Blue Almshouse wins the RIBA Stirling Prize 2025, crowning the social housing complex for over-65s by Witherford Watson Mann Architects, the best building of the year
-
The Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s houses of the monthThis September, Wallpaper highlighted a striking mix of architecture – from iconic modernist homes newly up for sale to the dramatic transformation of a crumbling Scottish cottage. These are the projects that caught our eye
-
Are these the best brick and ceramic buildings in the world?The biannual Brick Award is back. Discover the shortlist of innovative buildings across the world, designed by architects thinking outside the box
-
Utopian, modular, futuristic: was Japanese Metabolism architecture's raddest movement?We take a deep dive into Japanese Metabolism, the pioneering and relatively short-lived 20th-century architecture movement with a worldwide impact; explore our ultimate guide
-
A new Tadao Ando monograph unveils the creative process guiding the architect's practiceNew monograph ‘Tadao Ando. Sketches, Drawings, and Architecture’ by Taschen charts decades of creative work by the Japanese modernist master
-
A Tokyo home’s mysterious, brutalist façade hides a secret urban retreatDesigned by Apollo Architects, Tokyo home Stealth House evokes the feeling of a secluded resort, packaged up neatly into a private residence
-
The wait is over – the RIBA Stirling Prize 2025 shortlist is hereThe restored home of Big Ben, creative housing for different needs, and a centre for medical innovation – the RIBA Stirling Prize 2025 shortlist has just been announced, and its six entries are as diverse as they can be
-
Landscape architect Taichi Saito: ‘I hope to create gentle landscapes that allow people’s hearts to feel at ease’We meet Taichi Saito and his 'gentle' landscapes, as the Japanese designer discusses his desire for a 'deep and meaningful' connection between humans and the natural world
