Pritzker Architecture Prize

The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international architecture award presented annually "to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture.”[1] Founded in 1979 by Jay A. Pritzker and his wife Cindy, the award is funded by the Pritzker family and sponsored by the Hyatt Foundation. It is considered to be one of the world's premier architecture prizes, and is often referred to as the Nobel Prize of architecture.[2][3][4][5]

Pritzker Architecture Prize
Medal of the Pritzker Architecture Prize
Awarded forA career of achievement in the art of architecture
Sponsored byHyatt Foundation
Reward(s)US$100,000
First awarded1979; 45 years ago (1979)
Last awarded2023
Websitewww.pritzkerprize.com

Criteria and proceedings

The Pritzker Architecture Prize Jury says it is awarded "irrespective of nationality, race, creed, or ideology".[6] The recipients receive US$100,000, a citation certificate, and, since 1987, a bronze medallion.[1] The designs on the medal are inspired by the work of architect Louis Sullivan, while the Latin inspired inscription on the reverse of the medallion—firmitas, utilitas, venustas (English: firmness, commodity and delight)—is from Ancient Roman architect Vitruvius. Before 1987, a limited edition Henry Moore sculpture accompanied the monetary prize.[1]

The Executive Director of the prize, Manuela Lucá-Dazio,[7] solicits nominations from a range of people, including past Laureates, academics, critics and others "with expertise and interest in the field of architecture".[6] Any licensed architect can also make a personal application for the prize before November 1 every year. (In 1988 Gordon Bunshaft nominated himself for the award and eventually won it.)[8] The jury, consisting of five to nine "experts ... recognized professionals in their own fields of architecture, business, education, publishing, and culture", deliberates and early in the following year announce the winner.[6] The prize Chair is the 2016 Pritzker laureate Alejandro Aravena; earlier chairs were J. Carter Brown (1979–2002), the Lord Rothschild (2003–2004), the Lord Palumbo (2005–2015), Glenn Murcutt (2016–2018) and Stephen Breyer (2019–2020).[9]

Laureates

Inaugural winner Philip Johnson was cited "for 50 years of imagination and vitality embodied in a myriad of museums, theaters, libraries, houses, gardens and corporate structures".[10] The 2004 laureate Zaha Hadid was the first female prize winner.[11] Ryue Nishizawa became the youngest winner in 2010 at age 44.[12] Partners in architecture (in 2001, Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, in 2010, Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, in 2020, Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, and in 2021, Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal) have shared the award.[13] In 1988, Gordon Bunshaft and Oscar Niemeyer were both separately honored with the award.[14] The 2017 winners, architects Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem, and Ramon Vilalta were the first group of three to share the prize.[15][16]

Pritzker Architecture Prize winners
YearLaureate(s)NationalityPhotoExample work (year completed)Award ceremony locationRef.
1979Philip JohnsonUnited States Glass House (1949)Dumbarton Oaks, Washington DC[17]
1980Luis BarragánMexico Cuadra San Cristóbal (1968)Dumbarton Oaks, Washington DC[4]
1981James StirlingUnited Kingdom Seeley Historical Library (1968)National Building Museum, Washington DC[18]
1982Kevin RocheIreland
United States
Ford Foundation Building (1967)Art Institute of Chicago[2][A]
1983I. M. PeiUnited States National Gallery of Art, East Building (1978)Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City[19][B]
1984Richard MeierUnited States High Museum of Art (1983)National Gallery of Art, Washington DC[2]
1985Hans HolleinAustria Abteiberg Museum (1982)The Huntington Library, San Marino, California[2]
1986Gottfried BöhmGermany
(West Germany)
Church of the Pilgrimage (1968)Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, London[2]
1987Kenzō TangeJapan St. Mary's Cathedral, Tokyo (1964)Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas[20]
1988Gordon Bunshaft
(shared prize)
United States
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library (1963)Art Institute of Chicago[2][21]
Oscar Niemeyer
(shared prize)
Brazil Cathedral of Brasília (1958)[2][21]
1989Frank GehryCanada
United States
Gehry Residence (1978)Tōdai-ji, Nara, Japan[22][C]
1990Aldo RossiItaly San Cataldo Cemetery (1978)Palazzo Grassi, Venice[23]
1991Robert VenturiUnited States National Gallery, Sainsbury Wing (1991)Palace of Iturbide, Mexico City[24]
1992Álvaro Siza VieiraPortugal Leça Swimming Pools (1966)Harold Washington Library, Chicago[25]
1993Fumihiko MakiJapan Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium (1991)Prague Castle[20]
1994Christian de PortzamparcFrance
City of Music (1995)The Commons, Columbus, Indiana[26]
1995Tadao AndoJapan Church of the Light (1989)Petit Trianon, Versailles[27]
1996Rafael MoneoSpain National Museum of Roman Art (1986)Getty Center, Los Angeles[28]
1997Sverre FehnNorway Norwegian Glacier Museum (1991)Guggenheim Museum Bilbao[29]
1998Renzo PianoItaly Kansai International Airport (1994)White House, Washington DC[30]
1999Norman FosterUnited Kingdom HSBC Building (1985)Altes Museum, Berlin[19]
2000Rem KoolhaasNetherlands Kunsthal (1992)Jerusalem Archaeological Park[31]
2001Jacques Herzog & Pierre de MeuronSwitzerland Tate Modern (2000)Monticello, Charlottesville, Virginia[32]
2002Glenn MurcuttAustralia Berowra Waters Inn (1983)Campidoglio, Rome[33]
2003Jørn UtzonDenmark Sydney Opera House (1973)Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, Madrid[34]
2004Zaha HadidIraq
United Kingdom
Bergisel Ski Jump (2003)Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg[19][D]
2005Thom MayneUnited States Caltrans District 7 Headquarters (2004)Pritzker Pavilion, Chicago[35]
2006Paulo Mendes da RochaBrazil Saint Peter Chapel, Campos do Jordão, São Paulo (1987)Dolmabahçe Palace, Istanbul[36]
2007Richard RogersItaly
United Kingdom
Lloyd's building (1986)Banqueting House, Whitehall, London[37][E]
2008Jean NouvelFrance Torre Agbar (2005)Library of Congress, Washington DC[19][38]
2009Peter ZumthorSwitzerland Therme Vals (1996)Legislative Palace of the City Council, Buenos Aires[19][39]
2010Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue NishizawaJapan 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa (2003)Ellis Island, New York City[40]
2011Eduardo Souto de MouraPortugal Estádio Municipal de Braga (2004)Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, Washington DC[41]
2012Wang ShuChina Ningbo Museum (2008)Great Hall of the People, Beijing[42]
2013Toyo ItoJapan Sendai Mediatheque (2001)John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston[43]
2014Shigeru BanJapan Centre Pompidou-Metz (2010)Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam[44]
2015Frei OttoGermany
Olympic Stadium, Munich (1972)New World Center, Miami[45][46] [†]
2016Alejandro AravenaChile Siamese Towers, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (2005)United Nations Headquarters, New York City[47][48]
2017Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem, and Ramon VilaltaSpain
Sant Antoni Library, Barcelona (2008)Akasaka Palace, Tokyo[49]
2018B. V. DoshiIndia Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (1977–1992, multiple phases)Aga Khan Museum, Toronto[50][51]
2019Arata IsozakiJapan Art Tower Mito (1990)Palace of Versailles[52]
2020Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamaraIreland

The Grafton Building of Bocconi University (2007)Online[53][54][55][13][G]
2021Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe VassalFrance National School of Architecture, Nantes (2009)Online[56][57][G]
2022Diébédo Francis KéréBurkina Faso
Germany
Centre for Earth Architecture, Mopti, Mali (2010)LSE Marshall Building, London[58][H]
2023David ChipperfieldUnited Kingdom Neues Museum, Berlin (1997–2009)Ancient Agora of Athens[59]
2024Riken YamamotoJapan Yokosuka Museum of Art, Kanagawa, Japan (2007)Art Institute of Chicago[I]

Table notes

A. a Roche was born in Ireland.[60]
B. b Pei was born in China.[61]
C. c Gehry was born in Canada.[62]
D. d Hadid was born in Iraq.[63]
E. e Rogers was born in Italy into an Anglo-Italian family.[64]
F.  Posthumous award.
G. g Ceremony held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
H. h Kéré was born in Burkina Faso.[65]
I. i Yamamoto was born in 1945 in Beijing, China.

Criticism

In 2013, the student organization "Women in Design" at the Harvard Graduate School of Design started a petition arguing Denise Scott Brown should receive joint recognition with her partner, Robert Venturi, who won the award in 1991.[66] The petition, according to The New York Times, "reignited long-simmering tensions in the architectural world over whether women have been consistently denied the standing they deserve in a field whose most prestigious award was not given to a woman until 2004, when Zaha Hadid won".[67] Scott Brown told CNN that "as a woman, she had felt excluded by the elite of architecture throughout her career," and that "the Pritzker Prize was based on the fallacy that great architecture was the work of a 'single lone male genius' at the expense of collaborative work."[68] Responding to the petition, the prize jury said that it cannot revisit the decisions of past juries, either in the case of Scott Brown or that of Lu Wenyu, whose husband Wang Shu won in 2012.[69] The 2020 Pritzker jury said in its citation awarding the prize to Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara – making them the fourth and fifth women to ever be awarded the prize – that they were, "pioneers in a field that has traditionally been and still is a male-dominated profession [and] beacons to others as they forge their exemplary professional path."[70]

See also

References

General

  • "Past laureates". Pritzker Architecture Prize official site. The Hyatt Foundation. Retrieved March 17, 2013.

Specific

External links