The idea behind the Pritzker Architecture Prize

Each year, the Pritzker Architecture Prize recognizes a living architect or a group of architects for significant achievements. The Pritzker family of Chicago established the prize in 1979 through their Hyatt Foundation, which still oversees the prestigious award today.

The Pritzker Prize honours architects whose work shows talent, vision, and commitment, contributing significantly to humanity and the built environment.

The award consists of a bronze medallion and a prize money of 100,000 USD. During a ceremony at an architecturally significant site anywhere in the world, organizers present the prize. The prize, which is also known as the Nobel Prize of architecture, is awarded “irrespective of nationality, race, creed, or ideology”. The medallion bears a Latin inscription from Vitruvius: “firmitas, utilitas, venustas” (firmness, commodity, and delight).

Currently, Manuela Lucá-Dazio is Executive Director of the Pritzker Prize. Nominations come from a range of architects, academics, and critics. Participants must submit nominations before November 1. The jury consists of five to nine experts.

The 2022 Pritzker Prize Laureate

In 2022, the committee honored Francis Kéré with the Pritzker Prize, making him the first African architect to receive it. Kéré was born in Burkina Faso. His work is highly esteemed across the world. He has worked not only in his country of birth, but also across Africa, Europe, and the United States of America. The 55-year-old often draws on his childhood, shaped by a strong sense of community. After studying in Germany, he fulfilled one of his dreams by designing an elementary school for his home village of Gando. He completed his first building, an elementary school in Gando, in 2001. Many other buildings followed.

According to the committee, these are the questions that Francis Kéré answers in his work: “What is the role of architecture in contexts of extreme scarcity? What is the right approach to the practice when working against all odds? Should it be modest and risk succumbing to adverse circumstances? Or is modesty the only way to be pertinent and achieve results? Should it be ambitious in order to inspire change? Or does ambition run the risk of being out of place and of resulting in architecture of mere wishful thinking?”

Other Pritzker Prize Laureates

Philip Johnson was the inaugural Pritzker Prize winner, recognized for “50 years of imagination and vitality” in numerous buildings. In 2004, Zaha Hadid became the first woman to win the prize. Ryue Nishizawa received the Pritzker Prize in 2010, becoming the youngest laureate at age 44. Several partners have been awarded the prize:

• Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron in 2001
• Kazuyo Sejima and Nishizawa in 2010
• Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem, and Ramón Vilalta in 2017
• Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara in 2020
• Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal in 2021

History of the Prize

Jay and Cindy Pritzker initiated the prize to promote greater public awareness of architecture. And to encourage more creativity in the profession. The Pritzker family, known for its many international business interests, lent their name to the prize. They are based in Chicago and own the Hyatt Hotels.

The family has long been appreciated for their support of educational, scientific, medical, and cultural activities. Today, Jay and Cindy’s son Tom Pritzker is Chairman and President of the Hyatt Foundation. He said, “As native Chicagoans, it’s not surprising that our family was keenly aware of architecture, living in the birthplace of the skyscraper, a city filled with buildings designed by architectural legends such as Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies van der Rohe, and many others.”

Organizers modelled many procedures and rewards of the Pritzker Prize after the Nobel Prize, including the grant, the formal citation certificate, and the bronze medallion. Before 1987, organizers awarded winners a limited-edition Henry Moore sculpture instead of the medallion.

The Pritzker Prize Ceremony

Organizers typically hold the official ceremony in May. The location highlights the importance of architecture and honors past achievements or laureates. They select the locations for the ceremony before choosing the laureate, ensuring no connection between the two.

International and local guests attend the exclusive, invitation-only event. The schedule includes a welcome by a dignitary from the host country, comments from the jury and the award ceremony by Tom Pritzker. The winner concludes the event by thanking the audience with a speech.

In 2022, the ceremony will take place in London’s Marshall Building, designed by Grafton Architects. 2020 laureates Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara led the design. The Marshall Building is the largest academic building at the London School of Economics. It was completed in 2021.