Guo Jinlong, the Mayor of Beijing, China and Thomas J. Pritzker, Chairman of the Hyatt, revealed the location of the 34th Pritzker Prize Ceremony. The prestigious event will be held in Beijing, China on May 25th, 2012.

The specific building to be used for the ceremony is still under consideration. Past locations included buildings of historical significance. In 2011, Washington D.C. hosted the event at the classic Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium. In 2010, the ceremony took place on the historic Ellis Island in New York. And in 2009, Argentina’s historic Palacio San Martin hosted the event in Buenos Aires.

Z-Car I, 2006. Zaha Hadid (Iraqi, b. 1950). Lightweight carbon fiber composite: EPS PU, PU-coating, car paint. 65 3/4 x 72 13/16 x 148 in. Black/white. Made by GTM Cars, Kingswinford, England. Photography courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects: Project Zaha Hadid Architects in collaboration with Kenny Shachter/ ROVE Gallery London.

Zaha Hadid: Form in Motion now exhibited at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through March 25th, highlights the architects product design within a unique atmosphere.  Creating for the first time in the states her own setting for an exhibit,  the first female Pritzker Prize winning architect developed an ‘undulating structure of finished polystyrene with vinyl graphics’ to display furniture, footwear, and her Z-Car I.

“Hadid envisions the gallery as an active element in the display of her own designs, and will create an immersive three-dimensional environment,” said Kathryn Bloom Hiesinger, Curator of European Decorative Arts after 1700. “She is interested in the interface between architecture, landscape, and geology, and explores the intersection of these elements with a spatial composition that ebbs and flows in wave-like movements, manipulating the viewer’s understanding of space with constantly shifting perspectives.”

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Justice Stephen Breyer - Photo by Steve Petteway, Photographer, Supreme Court of the United States / Zaha Hadid - Photo by Simone Cecchetti

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, as well as widely acclaimed Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate, Zaha Hadid of the United Kingdom, will join the jury that selects Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureates, it was announced today by Thomas J. Pritzker, Chairman of The Hyatt Foundation which sponsors the prize.

In addition to his distinguished career in the law, Justice Breyer has a long history of interest in art and architecture, having authored the foreword to a book titled, “Celebrating The Courthouse: A Guide For Architects, Their Clients, And The Public” in 2006. Further, in 2009, the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies honored him with the first Leonore and Walter H. Annenberg Award for Diplomacy through the Arts at a ceremony where the chairman of the foundation, Jo Carole Lauder, said, “His passion for ensuring that federal buildings — where our country’s democratic principles are upheld — represent modern day thinking and culture is truly admirable. Since the birth of our nation, America’s ever changing democracy has been captured through art and architecture and, thanks to Justice Breyer, this legacy will continue.”

Hadid, who received the Pritzker Prize in 2004, has since become one of the world’s busiest architects with projects in numerous countries, including the United States, China, Germany, Spain and Italy. The distinguished architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable, who at the time was a Pritzker juror, said: “Zaha Hadid is one of the most gifted practitioners of the art of architecture today.”

More after the break. read more »

© Leonardo Finotti

The Braga Municipal Stadium located in Portugal was designed by 2011 Pritzker Prize winner Eduardo Souto de Moura.  The ceremony for the Pritzker Prize (which we attended) was held just a few short weeks ago in New York City.  Delivering a speech for the award winner, President Barack Obama spoke of Souto de Moura’s use of materials and attention to detail, specifically siting the Braga Municipal Stadium as “perhaps Eduardo’s most famous work” where he “took great care to position the stadium in such a way that anyone who couldn’t afford a ticket could watch the match from the surrounding hillside.”

Architects: Eduardo Souto de Moura
Location: Braga, Portugal
Project Year: 2003
Photographs: Leonardo Finotti

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Eduardo Souto de Moura was awarded the Pritzker Prize just last week (our coverage of the ceremony here). This video takes a look inside Souto de Moura’s office in Porto and the surrounding city including his Burgo Tower which has become a landmark.  Also taking a look at scale the video displays a wide variety of his work throughout Portugal in varying scales from a single family home to the Braga Stadium.

Last night we had the honor of attending the 2011 Pritzker Prize Ceremony in Washington D.C., where Portuguese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura received this important recognition.

This was the third time we attended the event (after 2009 in Buenos Aires and 2010 in New York) and it was a special evening, not only because of the renowned architects attending the event, but also for the presenting speech by President Barack Obama. Obama, a friend of the Pritzker family, delivered a short but interesting speech to Souto de Moura and the architects. Obama’s interest in architecture goes way back as we’ve heard him state that he thought he could be an architect, but as he said at the speech “I expected to be more creative than I turned out, so I had to go into politics instead”.

It’s worth mentioning that Obama referred to the Pritzker Prize as the Nobel of architecture, a common comparison that puts the importance of this recognition in context.

After several mentions to architecture, his hometown Chicago, Mies (his campaign HQ was in a Mies building), Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Jefferson’s Monticello, he mentioned that architecture is about “creating buildings and spaces that inspire us, that help us do our jobs, that bring us together, and that become, at their best, works of art that we can move through and live in. And in the end, that’s why architecture can be considered the most democratic of art forms“.

Eduardo Souto de Moura and Renzo Piano

About Souto de Moura’s work he mentioned that it was “effortless and beautiful”, and he highlighted the fact that the Braga Stadium was a democratic building, as he not only served the audience but people on the outside.

After Obama and Lord Palumbo (chairman of the Pritzker jury) Eduardo Souto de Moura accepted his recognition, and said something very interesting that made me understand contemporary Portuguese architecture. He developed his work during the 1974 revolution in Portugal, after which the country required to give housing to millions of people. At that time post modernism was starting strong in the country, but that wasn´t the way to do housing (with columns and arches), which led to a late modernism that we see on his works, which in my opinion became a legacy to the new generation of Portuguese architects. More photos after the break:
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Photography by Iwan Baan, © Vitra

This coming Thursday, May 5th Harvard University Graduate School of Design will host Jacques Herzog, of Pritzker Prize winning Herzog de Meuron. The lecture, from 4pm-5pm, will be held at the Piper Auditorium and is free and open to the public. It will also be streaming live on the GSD webcast page. Further information about this upcoming lecture can be found here.

© Renzo Piano Building Workshop in collaboration with Cooper, Robertson & Partners

On May 24th the Whitney Museum of American Art will break ground on a 200,000 sqf facility, designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Renzo Piano. Located in the Meatpacking District adjacent to the southern entrance to the High Line, the building will provide the Whitney with essential new space for its collection, exhibitions, and education and performing arts programs in one of New York’s most vibrant neighborhoods.

To celebrate this historic moment for the Museum, from May 19 to 27 they will host a series of events, programs, performances, and public art initiatives.  A special Community Day on Saturday May 21st will feature a variety of activities free and open to the public.

The invitation only ground breaking event begins at 11 am (doors open at 10:30 am) and will include appearances by Adam D. Weinberg, the Whitney’s Alice Pratt Brown Director, architect Renzo Piano, as well as the Whitney’s Board of Trustees and city officials, friends, artists, and other supporters.

Special performances by Elizabeth Streb and the STREB Extreme Action Company and So Percussion. The Whitney Museum of American Art’s new building is anticipated to open in 2015. More information can be found here.

www.newyorkbygehry.com

At 82 Frank Gehry shows no sign of slowing down. Working on 20 projects at any given time, the Pritzker Prize winning architect’s latest completed work New York by Gehry had its formal opening just last month. In this interview Gehry shares how he was inspired by ice hokey, that Gian Lorenzo Bernini is one of his greatest influences, and what he has always wanted to design.

More following the break.

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Courtesy of Serpentine Gallery Pavilion

Pritzker Prize winning architect Peter Zumthor’s design for the 11th Serpentine Gallery Pavilion was revealed today. A design that ‘aims to help its audience take the time to relax, to observe and then, perhaps, start to talk again – maybe not’, the materials are significant in aiding the design which emphasizes the role the senses and emotions play in our experience of architecture. The Pavilion will be Zumthor’s first completed building in the UK

Zumthor shared that ‘the concept for this year’s Pavilion is the hortus conclusus, a contemplative room, a garden within a garden. The building acts as a stage, a backdrop for the interior garden of flowers and light. Through blackness and shadow one enters the building from the lawn and begins the transition into the central garden, a place abstracted from the world of noise and traffic and the smells of London – an interior space within which to sit, to walk, to observe the flowers. This experience will be intense and memorable, as will the materials themselves – full of memory and time.’

Stay tuned to ArchDaily for more images and news on Zumthor’s design for the Pavilion.  Our previous coverage of the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion can be found here, including  Jean Nouvel’s Serpentine Gallery of 2010, and SANAA’s 2009 Serpentine Gallery.

Courtesy of Serpentine Gallery Pavilion

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Eduardo Souto de Moura, 2011 Pritzker laureate, in front of the Casa das Histórias Paula Rego. Photo by Francisco Nogueira.

Today, the Pritzker Prize laureate has been announced: Portuguese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura.

The 58-year-old architect based in Porto worked on his earlier years at Alvaro Siza’s office, another Pritzker Laureate (1992), and opened his own practice in 1980. Since then he has completed over sixty buildings, most of them in Portugal, and also in Spain, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom and Switzerland.

Museu Paula Rego, Casa das Histórias, Cascais, Portugal by Eduardo Souto de Moura © FG + SG Fernando Guerra

Along his works we find iconic projects such as the impressive Braga Stadium (2004) and the recent Casa das Histórias Paula Rego.

“During the past three decades, Eduardo Souto de Moura has produced a body of work that is of our time but also carries echoes of architectural traditions. His buildings have a unique ability to convey seemingly conflicting characteristics — power and modesty, bravado and subtlety, bold public authority and a sense of intimacy —at the same time.”

- Lord Palumbo, Chairman of the jury

More projects by Eduardo Souto de Moura after the break:
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ArchDaily had the privilege of attending the Pritzker Prize ceremony last night on historic Ellis Island as Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa were honored.  Regarded as the highest honor bestowed upon an architect, the Pritzker Prize’s newest laureates were continually praised throughout the evening for their keen ability to teach us that what is not present can be as important as what is present.

As past laureates, such as Renzo Piano, Frank Gehry, Thom Mayne, Richard Meier, Jean Nouvel, and Rafael Moneo looked on, Lord Palumbo, chairman of the jury, discussed Sejima’s and Nishizawa’s work style; an intensively collaborative design process which is so balanced between the two minds that it is impossible to say which one of the pair is responsible for which architectural decision within a given project.

Although the two share similar philosophies when it comes to light, form and space, their differences create “all the possibilities”.  Sejima explained that within SANAA, there are actually three firms:  each has his/her own individual practice, yet come together to discuss and critique their work under the international firm SANAA.  While some criticize this process as inefficient and confusing, Sejima replied, with a laugh, that the organization is simply how they like to work.

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Ryue Nishizawa and Kazuyo Sejima, Photo by Takashi Okamoto, Courtesy of SANAA

Today, the Pritzker Prize laureate has been announced: Japanese practice SANAA formed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa.

SANAA was following Steven Holl on the polls (my favorite for next year), a name that was very strong for the award since last year.

The awarded duo will receive the prize at a formal ceremony May 17 at Ellis Island, New York.

Works by SANAA at ArchDaily:

• Rolex Learning Center
• Rolex Learning Center photos by Iwan Baan
• Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2009
• Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Museum of Art
• Zollverein School of Management and Design

The Pritzker will be announced in a few minutes. It will probably go to one of the figures you have already voted for in our 2010 Pritzker poll, but deep in our hearts we wish Architecture for Humanity to be awarded.

With the purpose of the Prize being “to honor a living architect whose built work demostrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision, and commitment, which has produced a consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture“, don´t you agree with me?

Anyway, Architecture for Humanity has been awarded with the 2010 IIDA Pioneers in Design Award, and we congratulate them once again.

Let’s hope we can probe Cameron Sinclair wrong in the future:

@casinclair: @archforhumanity will never be awarded the Pritzker Prize but we do have this awesome new video http://is.gd/b2yUU

(remember to follow @archdaily on Twitter to be instantly up to date on this and other news)

Last year our readers got it right, when majority voted for Peter Zumthor at our poll, who was later announced as the Pritzker Prize 2009 laureate.

Will you guys guess the Pritzker once again?

The Pritzker Prize laureate will be announced this Sunday. In the meanwhile vote on this list we compiled via Twitter:

Update

Today, japanese practice SANAA has been announced as the 2010 Pritzker Prize laureate.

A few minutes ago, the Pritzker Award ceremony took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This year, the prize was awarded to swiss architect Peter Zumthor.

Our correspondent Martin Bravo was there and sent us this photos of the event:
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Gallery with photos and videos of 2009 Pritzker Laureate, Peter Zumthor.

All after the break:
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The Pritzker Prize, nobel-equivalent for architecture, laureate for 2009 has just been announced, and it seems that our readers got it right this time as you can see on our poll.

This year the prize goes to Swiss architect Peter Zumthor (1943). A real “master”, Zumthor has always been a craftsman on architecture, focusing on the atmosphere and details of his  works, taking all the time he needs  (often several years) at the Swiss mountains to deliver  timeless buildings: Brother Klaus Field Chapel, Kolumba Art Museum, Swiss Pavillion Expo Hannover, Therm Vals, and more.

“I believe that architecture today needs to reflect on the tasks and possibilities which are inherently its own. Architecture is not a vehicle or a symbol for things that do not belong to its essence. In a society that celebrates the inessential, architecture can put up a resistance, counteract the waste of forms and meanings, and speak its own language. I believe that the language of architecture is not a question of a specific style. Every building is built for a specific use in a specific place and for a specific society. My buildings try to answer the questions that emerge from these simple facts as precisely and critically as they can.”

Peter Zumthor – Thinking Architecture

The ceremony will take place on May 29th in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

In a few moments we will feature some of his works in a separate article.

A few months ago we told you about some changes on the jury of the Pritzker Prize, and some readers started pointing out names for the possible 2009 laureate.

The prize is only a few weeks away (it usually gets announced on March 31st) and we decided to setup a poll with the given names and the possibility that you add your own candidate.

Lets see if the ArchDaily community can guess the next Pritzker. Poll available on the sidebar or after the break:

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The Pritzker Prize is the Nobel equivalent for Architecture. It honors “a living architect 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”.

Past laureates include Herzog & de Meuron, Frank Ghery, Zaha Hadid, Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Thom Mayne, Jean Nouvel, Rem Koolhaas, Norman Foster, Alvaro Siza… and a long list of prominent architects that you might already know.

But also, we find a selected group of architects in the jury during the past: Shigeru Ban, Renzo Piano, Carlos Jiménez, Charles Correa, Jorge Silvetti, among others.

As of 2008, the jury was: Lord Peter Palumbo (Chair, 2005-present), Shigeru Ban (2006-present), Rolf Fehlbaum (2004-present), Carlos Jimenez (2001-present), Victoria Newhouse (2005-present), Renzo Piano (2006-present), Karen Stein (2004-present), Martha Thorne (Executive Director,  2005-present).

And now, we just got the news that Alejandro Aravena (previously featured on ArchDaily) was appointed as jury of the Pritzker Prize. I think that the inclusion of a young architect that is very into the social aspect of architecture can open the scope of this important award.

We´ll have to wait until March, 2009 to see the next awarded architect. Any bets?