David Chipperfield Named Winner of Pritzker Architecture Prize 2023
The British architect receives one of the industry’s highest accolades.
British architect David Chipperfield has been named the recipient of this year’s Pritzker Architecture Prize – an award that is internationally accepted as the industry’s highest honor.
The announcement, made today, revealed that Chipperfield had been named 2023’s laureate – citing a unique ability to exercise “radical restraint” across his projects while taking into account their cultural and historical settings.
In a statement accepting the accolade, Chipperfield used the opportunity to discuss the role of architects in an ever-changing world – imploring his colleagues to inspire future generations of practitioners to rise to the challenges we face.
Courtesy Of Tom Welsh
“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,” he said “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.”
“We do not see an instantly recognizable David Chipperfield building in different cities, but different David Chipperfield buildings designed specifically for each circumstance.”
Since founding his eponymous practice in 1985, Chipperfield has embarked on projects across Asia, Europe, and North America – spanning public, cultural, and academic buildings to private residences and urban master planning. “In a world where many architects view a commission as an opportunity to add to their own portfolio, he responds to each project with specific tools that he has selected with preciseness and great care,” said Alejandro Aravena, Jury Chair and 2016 Pritzker Prize Laureate. “Sometimes it requires a gesture that is strong and monumental, while other times, it requires him to almost disappear. But his buildings will always stand the test of time because the ultimate goal of his operation is to serve the greater good. The avoidance of what’s fashionable has allowed him to remain permanent.”
Chipperfield is the 52nd Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize and will receive the award at a ceremony in Athens, Greece this May. Take a look through some of the architect’s key projects above, and for more design – take a tour of the best Modernist buildings tucked away in tropical environments.
