The Pritzker Prize, the highest award in the world of architecture, was won by 69-year-old Briton David Chipperfield, known for the minimalism and elegance of his designs. The jury praised Chipperfield in particular for his timeless and modern style, which confronts the climate crisis, transforms social relations and revitalizes cities, AFP reported.
Chipperfield said he was overwhelmed to receive “this extraordinary honor.” existential challenges of climate change and social inequality,” Chipperfield said in a statement.
Born in London in 1953, Chipperfield is best known for his renovations of the Neues Museum in Berlin and the Procuratie Vecchie, the oldest of the three buildings lining St. Mark in Venice. Chipperfield began his career in the 1970s. He was given the opportunity to work in the offices of architectural stars Norman Foster and Richard Rogers. In 1984 he started working as a freelancer, his breakthrough came when he designed a shop for the Japanese fashion designer Isei Miyake, first in Japan, then in Europe.
According to the jury, Chipperfield’s buildings “are always characterized by elegance, restraint, a sense of permanence and refined details”. “In an era of over-commercialization, over-design and exaggeration, he always manages to strike a balance,” organizers of the Pritzker Prize said in a statement.
Although Chipperfield is firmly in the architectural establishment, having won countless international competitions, curated the Venice Biennale and won an award from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), he has always felt like an outsider. “As a young architect in England in the 1980s, you didn’t stand a chance,” he told The Guardian. “We had Margaret Thatcher and Prince Charles, twins with a negative attitude towards the architectural profession. I realized my first three buildings in Japan, followed by competitions in Italy and Germany. To be honest, it hasn’t changed at all. I’ve been on the road ever since,” he added.
Chipperfield now has around 250 staff spread across offices in London, Berlin, Milan and Shanghai, but it seems his heart is really in Corrubedo – a small fishing village in north-west Spain where he owns several properties and runs a bar.
The Pritzker Architecture Prize was founded in 1979 by businessman Jay Pritzker and his wife Cindy. The award includes a bronze medallion and 100,000 dollars (2.2 million crowns). It is not chosen between companies or studios, but individuals. If more than one is selected, it is because the jury sees their work as inextricably linked. Last year, the Burkinabe architect Francis Kéré became the winner. Other laureates include Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhas and Frank Gehry, one of the authors of the Dancing House in Prague.