Riken Yamamoto Awarded 2024 Pritzker Architecture Prize
Japanese architect and social activist Riken Yamamoto has been awarded architecture’s most prestigious honor, the Pritzker Prize. Born in Beijing before relocating to Yokohama at the end of World War II, the 78-year-old stylistic modernist was an unlikely recipient, but the Pritzker has begun to lean away from a preference toward the avant garde. Yamamoto’s five-decade long career has consistently prioritized community interaction over commodified extravagance, while keeping the concepts of mutual aid and spontaneous encounter at the forefront of his design choices. “One of the things we need most in the future of cities is to create conditions through architecture that multiply the opportunities for people to come together and interact," said Pritzker Prize chair Alejando Aravena. "By carefully blurring the boundary between public and private, Yamamoto contributes positively beyond the brief to enable community.”
French Art Dealer Guy Wildenstein Convicted of Tax Fraud
Guy Wildenstein, French billionaire and heir to Wildenstein & Co. in New York, has been found guilty of tax fraud and money laundering after a years-long legal battle over the obscuring of his inherited estate. With what The New York Times called a “maze of trusts and shell companies,” the family failed to report to tax authorities a collection of masterworks (thought to be worth billions) as well as multiple off-shore properties. The 78-year-old gallerist and race-horse breeder has been fined $1.8 million in addition to being sentenced to two years of house arrest. In what prosecutors have called “the longest and most sophisticated tax fraud” in the history of modern France, this marked the third time that Wildenstein faced the French court. He was acquitted of identical charges in 2017 before the ruling was overturned in 2021. Authorities have seized $3.7 million of the family's assets.