The 2023 Pritzker Architecture Prize – the architecture world’s highest honour – has been awarded to British architect David Chipperfield. The London-based architect is the 52nd Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

Chipperfield is considered a prolific architect whose built works spanning over four decades are expansive in typology and geography, and include over 100 projects ranging from civic, cultural and academic buildings to residences, urban masterplanning and restorations throughout Asia, Europe and North America.

“The careful, well-crafted, precise and calm responses he has offered to the goals aspired to in his buildings can only originate in a deep and sustained knowledge of the discipline,” reads the Jury Citation. “Yet, those responses are never self-centred, nor do they serve in any way as art for art’s sake: rather, they always remained focused on the higher purpose of the undertaking and on the pursuit of civic and public good.”

“In his persistent search for a diverse, solid and coherent body of work, David Chipperfield manages not to deviate from a serious consideration of the genius loci — the spirit of the place — or of the growing diverse cultural contexts in which he works. We do not see an instantly recognisable David Chipperfield building in different cities, but different David Chipperfield buildings designed specifically for each circumstance. Each asserts its presence even as his buildings create new connections with the neighbourhood,” the jury noted.

While acknowledging his impressive body of work across different typologies from public civic buildings to commercial, residential and retail structures, the jury made a special mention of his focus on museums. “His museum buildings have always defied the notion that a museum is a place for elite culture. Over and over, he has interpreted the demands of the museum program to create not only a showcase for art but also a place interwoven with its city, breaking down boundaries and inviting the public at large to engage.”

“He is assured without hubris, consistently avoiding trendiness to confront and sustain the connections between tradition and innovation, serving history and humanity,” comments Tom Pritzker, chairman of the Hyatt Foundation, which sponsors the award. “While his works are elegantly masterful, he measures the achievements of his designs by social and environmental welfare to enhance the quality of life for all of civilisation.”

Born in London in 1953, Chipperfield was raised on a farm in Devon, southwest England, where the barns and outbuildings shaped his first physical impression of architecture. Graduating from the Kingston School of Art in 1976 and the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London in 1980, he went on to work for Douglas Stephen, Norman Foster (1999 Pritzker Prize Laureate), and the late Richard Rogers (2007 Pritzker Prize Laureate). He established his firm, David Chipperfield Architects in London in 1985, which over the next four decades expanded to Berlin, Shanghai, Milan, and Santiago de Compostela.

The River and Rowing Museum (Henley-on-Thames, United Kingdom, 1989–1997) was his first building in his native country. Among his overseas accomplishments are the reconstruction of the Neues Museum (Berlin, Germany, 1993–2009); the newly constructed James-Simon-Galerie (Berlin, Germany, 1999–2018); the restoration of the Procuratie Vecchie (Venice, Italy, 2022); the restoration and addition of Morland Mixité Capitale (Paris, France, 2022); the Amorepacific headquarters (Seoul, Republic of Korea, 2017); and the Inagawa Cemetery Chapel and Visitor Center (Hyogo, Japan, 2017).

“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,” says Chipperfield, who is known for his advocacy for social and environmental welfare.

“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.”

All images courtesy of the Pritzker Architecture Prize

Branko Miletic

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