Docomomo International congratulates Mr. Yoshiyuki Yamana for having been distinguished by the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres!
Mr. Yoshiyuki Yamana has been distinguished as Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. The insignia was handed by Laurent Pic, Ambassador of France to Japan, on 10th May.
“The university professor and architect Yoshiyuki Yamana has, through his work and his teaching activity, greatly contributed to the influence of modern French architecture in Japan and Asia. He is also a great specialist in the work of the Japanese architect Junzo Sakakura, who designed in the 1950s and 1960s the building that today houses the French Institute of Japan – Tokyo. The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres rewards those who have distinguished themselves by their creation in the artistic or literary field, or by the contribution they have made to the influence of the arts and letters in France and in the world.
The ambassador was keen to underline Mr. Yamana´s unwavering bond with France, as evidenced by his academic career. Graduated from the Tokyo University of Science, he joined the National School of Architecture of Paris-Belleville and obtained a PhD in art history from the University Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne under the direction of Frédéric Seitz. After teaching at the Nantes School of Architecture, the National Archives and the French Institute of Architecture, he has since 2002 been a professor at his alma mater, the Tokyo University of Science.
A great specialist in Le Corbusier, he has devoted numerous books to the importance of his work in the emergence of modern Japanese and Asian architecture, particularly through figures such as Junzo Sakakura. He has fervently committed to the preservation of the national heritage and is the initiative of the foundation of the “National Archives of Modern Architecture” and the archives of the National Museum of Western Art. It is also curated numerous exhibitions, including the Japanese Pavilion of the 15 th Venice Architecture Biennale or “Junzo Sakakura, an architecture for man” organized in 2017 at the House of Culture of Japan in Paris.”
In Embassy of France in Tokyo website
More details: website