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.

Described by Richard Meier as an architect whose "groundbreaking ideas" have "had a major impact on the thinking of designers and architects," Austrian artist, architect, designer, theoretician and Pritzker Prize laureate Hans Hollein worked in all aspects of design, from architecture to furniture, jewelry, glasses, lamps—even door handles. Known in particular for his museum designs, from the Abteiberg Museum in Mönchengladbach to the Museum of Modern Art in Frankfurt to Vienna's Modernism.

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This previously unpublished interview with Hans Hollein was conducted in July 2009 by Sanam Samanian (in collaboration with Parisa Kohbodi); Hollein passed away in 2014.

It was 2009, my first time in Vienna and I felt at home—as if I knew the city, its elegant architecture and its profound understanding of life. Vienna is quiet. It doesn’t make any noise about itself or ask for validation from the world; and when I walked into the studio of Hans Hollein it became clear that neither does he.

A a recent graduate of architecture school, I was trying to make it as a writer in the industry. With a bright friend, colleague and then-student from Waterloo University, we hopped on trains and traveled from country to country. In retrospect, I was probably looking for conversations with those I respected. I was looking to understand how they started their careers and what they were exploring. And I had no idea then that this may be the last interview with Mr. Hans Hollein, the man responsible for some of architecture history's key postmodern buildings: the Austrian Embassy Building in Berlin, the Glass and Ceramics house in Tehran, and the Retti Candle Shop in Vienna. His Pritzker Prize was given to him before I was born, yet he began answering my questions as if I were an old friend.

Sanam Samanian: The Pritzker focuses on humanity in architecture; has the award changed anything in your architecture since receiving it?

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The modern Hass Haus, designed by Hans Hollein, was controversial from its initiation in 1987.