The jury announced today that the British architect David Chipperfield (formally known as Sir David Alan Chipperfield Ch) will be The winner of the 2023 Pritzker Prize, One of the most important architecture awards. Known above all for cultural projects such as the Jumex Museum in Mexico City, the restoration and reconstruction of the Neuesum Museum in Berlin and the expansion of the San Luis Museum of Art (in the state of Missuri), this 69 -year -old architect has been praised by its minimalist designs that balance history and contemporaneity and that contribute to revitalize the cities. Thus joins the canon of previous winners, including Zaha Hadid (2004), Eduardo Souto de Moura (2011), Shigeru Ban (2014), Balkrishna Doshi (2018) and Diébédo Francis Kéré (2022).
«I take this award as a stimulus to continue directing my attention not only to the essence of architecture and its meaning, but also to the contribution we can make as architects to address the existential challenges of climate change and social inequality,» said Chipperfield in a statement. «We know that, as architects, we can have a more prominent and committed role in creation not only of a more beautiful world, but also more fair and sustainable. We must live up to this challenge and help inspire the next generation to assume this responsibility with vision and courage. «
The jury of the 2023 Pritzker Prize praised the architect David Chipperfield For the «discreet but transformative civic presence» of his work, which flees from the trends in favor of functional and durable designs, something that jury members call «sustainability as relevance», and cited as an example their James-Simon-Galerie of 2019, a museum building with white columns located on the island of the museums of Berlin and declared heritage of humanity by the museums of Berlin. UNESCO. Although a German critic previously described it as a «most expensive wardrobe in the world» for its limited program and its price of 150 million dollars, the Pritzker committee praised the design of the gallery for being imposing and at the same time a good neighbor, allowing views of its adjacent urban landscape. Well built and with these characteristics, its environmental resistance can be found in the firm quality of its materials and labor: if a structure is well built, it will provide less pollutants associated with future construction or deconstruction processes.
Chipperfield, who has carried out more than 100 projects in Asia, Europe and North America, has recently completed the restoration and transformation of the Vecchie Procuretie, which allow public access for the first time to three emblematic buildings – the headquarters of the Financial Administration of the Church of San Marcos – that surround the Plaza de San Marcos de Venice (Italy). The architect hired traditional artisans to restore ancient decorations And created spaces for events, exhibition halls and terraces on the roofs that revived the historical structures making them civic equipment. In 2021, the architect renewed with surgical precision the 1968 Neue Nationalgalerie of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in Berlin. Throughout its four decades, it has also designed stores, private homes and office buildings that, similarly, balance reverence and greatness in its architecture.