The Pritzker Prize is the most important award in the field of architecture, awarded to a living architect whose built work "has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity through the art of architecture." The Prize rewards individuals, not entire offices, as took place in 2000 (when the jury selected Rem Koolhaas instead of his firm OMA) or in 2016 (with Alejandro Aravena selected instead of Elemental); however, the prize can also be awarded to multiple individuals working together, as took place in 2001 (Herzog & de Meuron), 2010 (Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA), and 2017 (Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem, and Ramon Vilalta of RCR Arquitectes).

The award is an initiative funded by Jay Pritzker through the Hyatt Foundation, an organization associated with the hotel company of the same name that Jay founded with his brother Donald in 1957. The award was first given in 1979, when the American architect Philip Johnson, was awarded for his iconic works such as the Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut.

The Pritzker Prize has been awarded for almost forty straight years without interruption, and there are now 18 countries with at least one winning architect. To date, half of the winners are European; while the Americas, Asia, and Oceania share the other twenty editions. So far, no African architect has been awarded, making it the only continent without a winner.

In 2018 the Vatican will participate in the Venice Architecture Biennale for the first time. Ten international architects will construct 10 different chapels as part of the representation of the city-state in the Italian architecture event. The news was confirmed by Paraguayan media outlets ABC y Última Hora, who revealed that one of the participants was local architect Javier Corvalán.

The elite group of architects was selected by Francesco Dal Co, an Italian architecture historian and curator. The designers have been instructed that their chapels must be able to be relocated so that they can be deployed around the world, in places that are in need of these spaces of worship.

The architects who will build chapels in the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale:

During an interview with Portuguese newspaper Diário de Notícias, Pritzker Prize laureate Eduardo Souto de Moura spoke to Ana Sousa Dias about his path through the Fine Arts School, his work alongside Noé Diniz and Álvaro Siza, and his consolidated international career – which he says has given him projects, but not pleasure.

"If I have to do 30 projects, there are three that give me joy and 27 that don't. I'm tired of it. It doesn't annoy me arguing when the assumption is intelligible, but when only time and money matters, it can get ugly. Respecting elections and economically have big profits," said Souto de Moura. 

Eduardo Souto de Moura (born 25 July 1952), the Portuguese architect that won the 2011 Pritzker Prize, is known for designs that are formally simple yet serious and at times, dramatic, created through his thoughtful use of colors and materials. His architecture is both versatile and consistent, contextual yet universal, and rarely affected by current trends or styles.

+ 21

The office of Peter Zumthor has been selected to design an expansion to the Beyeler Foundation, located just outside Zumthor’s childhood home of Basel, Switzerland. The Swiss architect was chosen from a prestigious shortlist of 11 firms to add to the existing museum building, designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop and completed in 1997.

“The sky above Basel, the city and its surroundings–those are the landscapes of my youth,” said Zumthor. “It is heart-warming to be able to design a major building here.”

+ 110

• Architects

  Alvaro Siza , Eduardo Souto de Moura

• Location

  Av. Unisco Godiniz, 4780 Santo Tirso, Portugal

• Area

  2156.83 sqm

• Project Year

  2012

• Photographs

  João Morgado

On April 2^nd, the jury of the 10^th Ibero-American Architecture and Urbanism Biennial DESPLAZAMIENTOS / DESLOCAMIENTOS met in Madrid to select the winner of the Ibero-American Award for Architecture and Urbanism.

Images of Souto Moura Arquitectos' first US project has emerged. Aimed to replace a former gas station at 2715 Pennsylvanian Avenue NW in Washington DC, the five-story red brick and concrete building will feature a ground floor restaurant and eight 2,000-square-foot apartment units with balconies, a gym and penthouse terrace.  

As BizJournals reports, the proposal is being pitched by EastBanc Inc. as the new "entrance to Georgetown." The Portuguese architect chose red brick "because it seems to be the most appropriate for this part of the city."

+ 29

• Architects

  Eduardo Souto de Moura

• Location

  Porto, Portugal

• Coordinator

  Arq. Adriano Pimenta

• Project Year

  2005

• Photographs

  Luis Ferreira Alves

+ 45

• Architects

  Eduardo Souto de Moura

• Location

  Porto, Portugal

• Collaborators

  António Sérgio Koch, Manuel Vasconcelos, Tiago Figueiredo

• Project Area

  717.0 m2

• Project Year

  2013

• Photographs

  Luis Ferreira Alves

+ 58

• Architects

  Eduardo Souto de Moura, Humberto Vieira

• Location

  Cemitério de Bouro, 4720, Portugal

• Area

  7300.0 sqm

• Project Year

  1997

• Photographs

  Luis Ferreira Alves

+ 27

• Architects

  Eduardo Souto de Moura, Graça Correia

• Location

  7300 Portalegre, Portugal

• Area

  180.0 sqm

• Project Year

  2011

• Photographs

  Luís Ferreira Alves, Christian Richters

+ 30

• Architects

  Eduardo Souto de Moura

• Location

  Sabrosa, Portugal

• Collaborators

  Pedro Guedes de Oliveira, José Carlos Mariano, Tiago Coelho, Isabel Neves, Diogo Guimarães

• Project Area

  1680.0 m2

• Project Year

  2011

• Photographs

  Luis Ferreira Alves

+ 39

• Architects

  Eduardo Souto de Moura

• Location

  Maia, Portugal

• Project Architect

  Eduardo Souto de Moura

• Collaborators

  Luís Peixoto, Susana Meirinhos

• Project Year

  2007

• Photographs

  Luis Ferreira Alves