The architect, Pritzker 2024 winner, highlighted the capacity of the Venezuelan people to overcome unilateral coercive measures
During a conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan (FCCJ), architect Riken Yamamoto, winner of the 2024 Pritzker Prize, openly denounced the economic blockade and the United States attacks against Venezuela.
The teacher linked the resilience of the Venezuelan social fabric with the ability of its people to keep the community alive in the face of unilateral coercive measures.
In response to the TBS network, Yamamoto addressed the geopolitical reality and defended the Venezuelan popular organization. After having visited the country five times and meeting with authorities such as President Nicolás Maduro and Vice President Delcy Rodríguez – whom he described as a “very strong and hard-working person” – the architect highlighted that the country resists thanks to its solid social architecture.
Yamamoto used videos from communities such as 23 de Enero, San Agustín and Petare to show that, despite the external siege, the neighborhoods of Caracas represent a “model of the future.”
He explained that organizing into communes facilitates the local economy and mutual recognition, contrasting this vitality with the extreme isolation he observes in modern metropolises like Tokyo.
Finally, the award-winning architect recalled the holding of the World Neighborhood Symposium in Caracas as an example of the validity of the Venezuelan model. For Yamamoto, the experience in Venezuela is a global example of how to rescue community life and human dignity above international aggression and blockades.
