Foreword:  From Nation-State Republic to Local Area Republic

Forword:  From Nation-State Republic to Local Area Republic

Written by Riken Yamamoto

2025 was a year when the contradictions of the world were laid bare. Everything happening in my immediate surroundings felt as though it were directly connected to the state of the global community.

Following my Pritzker Prize in 2024, I was flooded with lecture invitations from across the globe. The reason was the citation provid-ed by Tom Pritzker: “Riken Yamamoto is an architect who bridges the gap between com-munity and architecture.” Between 2024 and 2025, I visited Manila, Jakarta, Guatemala City, Belgrade, Bologna, and Caracas. Every city harbored deep anxieties regarding the fu-ture of their local societies.

In Manila, I visited the Tondo district, once the “Smokey Mountain” landfill. Despite be-ing a symbol of the mega-slum, I found a town where children were full of life. It was a community built by the residents’ own hands, filled with small shops and a spirit of mutual aid.

In January 2025, I attended the World Eco-nomic Forum in Davos to receive the Crystal Award. There, I met David Beckham, a hum-ble man who spoke with joy about teaching soccer to children as a UNICEF ambassador. In my own speech, I spoke of my family’s evacuation from China. My mother told me how, even in the midst of war between na-tions, local Chinese communities helped us at every turn. The power of people to support one another is incredibly strong, yet state power often finds this mutual aid a hindrance.

Whether in Gaza, Ukraine, or Venezuela, it is this power of community that is being target-ed for destruction.

In Abu Dhabi, I encountered an artificial “colonial city” lacking communal memory. The population is divided between a privi-leged minority of “Emiratis” and a segregated majority of foreign laborers—a structure mir-roring the ancient Greek polis with its citizens and “Metics” (foreigners).

Ambassador Seiko Ishikawa later visited my office and spoke of the economic blockade of Venezuela and the “Barrios”—informal set-tlements undergoing a community revolu-tion. In 2025, I traveled to Caracas five times to work with Vice President Delcy Rodríguez on the redevelopment of these Barrios. I or-ganized the “World Barrio Symposium” to show the world that Venezuela is more than just a “dictatorship.”

I reached out to fellow Pritzker laureates Alejandro Aravena, Diébédo Francis Kéré, and Lacaton & Vassal. Only Lacaton & Vassal accepted. At the time, Venezuela was under a severe blockade with a U.S. carrier strike group deployed in the Caribbean. For many, attending meant not only physical danger but the risk of being barred from future work in the United States. It was understandable that most could not easily attend.

However, many others stepped forward. Professor Akiko Okabe of the University of Tokyo, who grew up in Mexico and is fluent in Spanish, immediately joined and even se-cured the participation of Elkin Velásquez from UN-Habitat. Other vital participants in-cluded Associate Professor Saori Imoto, an expert on Jakarta’s kampungs; my long-time friend Professor Koh Kitayama; Mikio Tai from the Local Republic Council; and Profes-sor Yoko Fujikake, an expert on South Amer-ican culture. Architect Ippei Takahashi even attended wearing a bulletproof vest, which caused a stir at immigration. We were also joined by Ruthin Gomez from Mexico, an alumnus of Hiroshi Hara’s laboratory, and the dedicated team from Creek & River and A-Works. The symposium, held at Caracas’s largest theater, was a massive success, filled with the energy of the Barrio residents.

Yet, tragedy struck shortly after. U.S. mili-tary forces raided the presidential palace at night, killing the guards and abducting Presi-dent Maduro to the United States. For one nation to arrest the leader of another is an act of madness, reminiscent of history’s darkest dictatorships.

Today, the world is consumed by struggles between Nation-State Republics ruled by dic-tators. To rescue our future, we must move beyond the state and rebuild Local Area Re-publics. I have begun discussing this with the Mayor of Setagaya and the Seijo Residents’ Association, designing new community centers that foster economic circuits inde-pendent of state or mega-bank power.

A community is a space defined by the power of its people. If the world becomes a collective of Local Area Republics, conflict will vanish. The Seijo Residents’ Association has taken that first step.