David Chipperfield awarded 2023 Pritzker Prize

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Known globally for his pared-back modernist style, Chipperfield was awarded the Pritzker Prize for being, in the judges’ view, ‘assured without hubris’. Judges also praised the 69-year-old for his avoidance of ‘trendiness’ and for work that is ‘understated but transformative’.

The judges said: ‘We do not see an instantly recognisable David Chipperfield building in different cities, but different David Chipperfield buildings designed specifically for each circumstance’.

Chipperfield’s most celebrated projects include the refurbishment of the Neues Museum in Berlin and the restoration of the Procuratie Vecchie in Venice. Both were cited as examples of his careful consideration of heritage while elevating the structures and and their surroundings with modern technique.

David Chipperfield: UK projects

Turner Contemporary (Simon Menges) – The Hepworth Wakefield (Iwan Baan) – Royal Academy of Arts (Simon Menges) – River and Rowing Museum (Richard Bryant/Arcaid) – Hoxton Press (Simon Menges)

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In the UK, Chipperfield is better known for his breakthrough River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames (1997), BBC Scotland headquarters, the Turner Contemporary art gallery, and the Hepworth Wakefield gallery. His controversial plans for a new Chinese embassy were, however, rejected by councillors and the Mayor of London last year.

In 2007 his practice won the RIBA Stirling Prize for its Museum of Modern Literature in Maybach, Germany.

His work in north-western Spain, where Chipperfield has a second home, was cited as an example of his commitment to solving the challenges of the climate crisis through environmental and landscape expertise.

Commenting on his win, Chipperfield said: ‘I take this award as an encouragement to continue to direct my attention not only to the substance of architecture and its meaning but also to the contribution that we can make as architects to address the existential challenges of climate change and societal inequality.

‘We know that, as architects, we can have a more prominent and engaged role in creating not only a more beautiful world but a fairer and more sustainable one, too. We must rise to this challenge and help inspire the next generation to embrace this responsibility with vision and courage.’

Previous Pritzker laureates include the late Indian architect Balkrishna Vithaldas (BV) Doshi, Berlin-based Francis Kéré (last year’s winner), and the late Richard Rogers.

David Chipperfield Architects has offices in London, Berlin, Milan, Shanghai and Santiago de Compostela.

David Chipperfield: International projects

Amorepacific Headquarters (Noshe) – James Simon Galerie (Simon Menges) – Americas Cup Building – Inagawa Cemetery (Keiko Sasaoka) – Procuratie Vecchie (Alessandra Chemollo)

Pritzker Prize winners

2022 Diébédo Francis Kéré (56)
2021 Anne Lacaton (65) and Jean-Philippe Vassal (67), France
2020 Yvonne Farrell (69) and Shelley McNamara (68), Ireland
2019 Arata Isozaki (87), Japan
2018 Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi (90), India
2017 Rafael Aranda (55) Carme Pigem (54) and Ramon Vilalta (56) of RCR Arquitectes, Spain
2016 Alejandro Aravena (48), Chile
2015 Frei Otto (89), Germany
2014 Shigeru Ban (56), Japan
2013 Toyo Ito (71), Japan
2012 Wang Shu (48), China
2011 Eduardo Souto de Moura (58), Portugal
2010 Kazuyo Sejima (54) and Ryue Nishizawa (44), Japan
2009 Peter Zumthor (65), Switzerland
2008 Jean Nouvel (62), France
2007 Richard Rogers (73), UK
2006 Paulo Mendes da Rocha (77), Brazil
2005 Thom Mayne (61), USA
2004 Zaha Hadid (53), UK
2003 Jorn Utzon (84), Denmark
2002 Glenn Murcutt (66), Australia
2001 Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron (51), Switzerland
2000 Rem Koolhaas (56), Netherlands
1999 Norman Foster (63), UK
1998 Renzo Piano (60), Italy
1997 Sverre Fehn (72), Norway
1996 Rafael Moneo (58), Spain
1995 Tadao Ando (53), Japan
1994 Christian de Portzamparc (50), France
1993 Fumihiko Maki (65), Japan
1992 Alvaro Siza (57), Portugal
1991 Robert Venturi (65), USA
1990 Aldo Rossi, (59), Italy
1989 Frank Gehry (60), USA
=1988 Oscar Niemeyer (81), Brazil
=1988 Gordon Bunshaft (79), USA
1987 Kenzo Tange (73), Japan
1986 Gottfried Bohm (66), Germany
1985 Hans Hollein (51), Austria
1984 Richard Meier (49), USA
1983 IM Pei (66), China
1982 Kevin Roche (60), USA
1981 James Stirling (55), UK
1980 Luis Barragan (78), Mexico
1979 Philip Johnson (73), USA