Pritzker Architecture Prize

The Pritzker Architecture Prize is awarded 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 and is considered to be one of the world's premier architecture prizes;^[2] it is often referred to as the Nobel Prize of architecture.^[3][4][5] The most recent winner, in 2015, is the German architect Frei Otto.^[6]

The prize is said to be awarded "irrespective of nationality, race, creed, or ideology."^[7] The recipients receive US$100,000, a citation certificate, and since 1987, a bronze medallion.^[8] 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.^[9] Before 1987, a limited edition Henry Moore sculpture accompanied the monetary prize.^[8]

The Executive Director of the prize, as of 2009, Martha Thorne,^[10] solicits nominations from a range of people, including past Laureates, academics, critics and others "with expertise and interest in the field of architecture".^[7] Any licensed architect can also make a personal application for the prize before 1 November every year. In 1988 Gordon Bunshaft nominated himself for the award and eventually won it.^[11] The jury, each year consisting of five to nine "experts ... recognized professionals in their own fields of architecture, business, education, publishing, and culture", deliberate early the following year before announcing the winner in spring.^[7] As of 2015, the prize Chair is Peter Palumbo (and has been since 2005); earlier chairs were J. Carter Brown (1979–2002), and Lord Rothschild (2003–04).^[12]

Controversy

In 2013, "Women in Design", a student organization at the Harvard Graduate School of Design started a petition on behalf of Denise Scott Brown to receive joint recognition with her partner, past prize winner Robert Venturi, furthering a debate about sexism in architecture. The petition, according to The New York Times has "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."^[13] Although the petition received international support of several past recipients, the jury said that it cannot revisit the work of past juries, in order to acknowledge the work of Scott Brown and Lu Wenyu, both women and equal partners to their spouses Venturi and Wang Shu, who won in 1991 and 2012 respectively.^[14] 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."^[15]

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".^[16] The 2004 laureate Zaha Hadid was the first female prize winner.^[17] Ryue Nishizawa became the youngest winner in 2010 at age 44.^[18] The 32nd prize winners, Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, were cited for "architecture that is simultaneously delicate and powerful, precise and fluid, ingenious but not overly or overtly clever".^[19] The most recent winner, in 2015, is the German architect Frei Otto, who received word that he would be given the award before his death, and whose name was announced to the public as the winner shortly after his death, the first time in the prize's history that a Laureate died before being able to attend the award ceremony.^[6][20]

#	Year	Laureate	Nationality	Photo	Example work (year completed)		Ceremony location	Ref.
1	1979	Johnson, PhilipPhilip Johnson	United States			Glass House (1949)	Dumbarton Oaks, Washington DC	[21]
2	1980	Barragán, LuisLuis Barragán	Mexico			Torres de Satélite (1957)	Dumbarton Oaks, Washington DC	[5]
3	1981	Stirling, JamesJames Stirling	United Kingdom			Seeley Historical Library (1968)	National Building Museum, Washington DC	[22]
4	1982	Roche, KevinKevin Roche	United States	–		Knights of Columbus Building (1969)	Art Institute of Chicago	[3][A]
5	1983	Pei, Ieoh MingIeoh Ming Pei	United States			National Gallery of Art, East Building (1978)	Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City	[23][B]
6	1984	Meier, RichardRichard Meier	United States			High Museum of Art (1983)	National Gallery of Art, Washington DC	[3]
7	1985	Hollein, HansHans Hollein	Austria			Abteiberg Museum (1982)	The Huntington Library, San Marino, California	[3]
8	1986	Böhm, GottfriedGottfried Böhm	Germany (West Germany)			Christi Auferstehung, Cologne (1968)	Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, London	[3]
9	1987	Tange, KenzōKenzō Tange	Japan			St. Mary's Cathedral, Tokyo (1964)	Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas	[24]
10	1988	Bunshaft, GordonGordon Bunshaft (shared prize)	United States	–		Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library (1963)	Art Institute of Chicago	[3][25]
10	1988	Niemeyer, OscarOscar Niemeyer (shared prize)	Brazil			Cathedral of Brasília (1958)	Art Institute of Chicago	[3][25]
11	1989	Gehry, FrankFrank Gehry	Canada United States			Walt Disney Concert Hall (1999–2003)	Tōdai-ji, Nara, Japan	[23][C]
12	1990	Rossi, AldoAldo Rossi	Italy	–		Bonnefanten Museum (1990)	Palazzo Grassi, Venice	[26]
13	1991	Venturi, RobertRobert Venturi	United States			National Gallery, Sainsbury Wing (1991)	Palace of Iturbide, Mexico City	[27]
14	1992	Siza Vieira, ÁlvaroÁlvaro Siza Vieira	Portugal			Pavilion of Portugal in Expo'98 (1998)	Harold Washington Library, Chicago	[28]
15	1993	Maki, FumihikoFumihiko Maki	Japan			Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium (1991)	Prague Castle	[24]
16	1994	de Portzamparc, ChristianChristian de Portzamparc	France	-		French Embassy, Berlin (2003)	The Commons, Columbus, Indiana	[29]
17	1995	Ando, TadaoTadao Ando	Japan			Church of the Light (1989)	Palace of Versailles	[30]
18	1996	Moneo, RafaelRafael Moneo	Spain			Kursaal Palace (1999)	Getty Center, Los Angeles	[23]
19	1997	Fehn, SverreSverre Fehn	Norway			Norwegian Glacier Museum (1991)	Guggenheim Museum Bilbao	[31]
20	1998	Piano, RenzoRenzo Piano	Italy			Kansai International Airport (1994)	White House, Washington DC	[32]
21	1999	Foster, NormanNorman Foster	United Kingdom			Millennium Bridge (London) (2000)	Altes Museum, Berlin	[23]
22	2000	Koolhaas, RemRem Koolhaas	Netherlands			Casa da Música, Porto (2003)	Jerusalem Archaeological Park	[33]
23	2001	Herzog & de Meuron	Switzerland	–		Tate Modern (2000)	Monticello, Charlottesville, Virginia	[34]
24	2002	Murcutt, GlennGlenn Murcutt	Australia			Berowra Waters Inn (1983)	Campidoglio, Rome	[35]
25	2003	Utzon, JørnJørn Utzon	Denmark			Sydney Opera House (1973)	Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, Madrid	[36]
26	2004	Hadid, ZahaZaha Hadid	Iraq United Kingdom			Bridge Pavilion (2008)	Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg	[23][D]
27	2005	Mayne, ThomThom Mayne	United States	–		San Francisco Federal Building (2007)	Pritzker Pavilion, Chicago	[37]
28	2006	Mendes da Rocha, PauloPaulo Mendes da Rocha	Brazil			Saint Peter Chapel, Campos do Jordão, São Paulo (1987)	Dolmabahçe Palace, Istanbul	[38]
29	2007	Rogers, RichardRichard Rogers	United Kingdom			Lloyd's building (1986)	Banqueting House, Whitehall, London	[39][E]
30	2008	Nouvel, JeanJean Nouvel	France			Torre Agbar (2005)	Library of Congress, Washington DC	[23][40]
31	2009	Zumthor, PeterPeter Zumthor	Switzerland	–		Therme Vals (1996)	Legislative Palace of the City Council, Buenos Aires	[23][41]
32	2010	Sejima, KazuyoKazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa (SANAA)	Japan			21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa (2003)	Ellis Island, New York City
33	2011	Souto de Moura, EduardoEduardo Souto de Moura	Portugal			Estádio Municipal de Braga, Braga (2004)	Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, Washington DC	[42]
34	2012	Wang Shu	China			Ningbo Museum, Ningbo (2008)	Great Hall of the People, Beijing	[43]
35	2013	Ito, ToyoToyo Ito	Japan			Sendai Mediatheque, Sendai (2001)	John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston	[44]
36	2014	Ban, ShigeruShigeru Ban	Japan			Centre Pompidou-Metz, Metz (2010)	Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam	[45]
37	2015	Otto, FreiFrei Otto	Germany	–		Olympic Stadium, Munich (1972)	New World Center, Miami	[6][20]

Table notes

A. ^a Roche was born in Ireland.^[46]

B. ^b Pei was born in China.^[47]

C. ^c Gehry was born in Canada.^[48]

D. ^d Hadid was born in Iraq.^[49]

E. ^e Rogers was born in Italy.^[50]

See also

• Driehaus Architecture Prize
• List of architecture prizes

References

General

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

Specific

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pritzker Prize winners.

• Official website