Justice Stephen Breyer will continue to serve on the Pritzker Prize jury after Supreme Court retirement

2022-01-31T11:59:00-05:00

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer may be leaving the nation’s top court, but his days of making high-profile decisions are not over yet. Breyer will reportedly remain one of the jurors of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, regarded as the highest honor in the field.

The 83-year-old Breyer has served on the Pritzker Prize jury since 2011. He reportedly became interested in the discipline after having first-hand involvement in the selection of architects for the then-new Moakley Courthouse in Boston as part of his responsibilities as Chief Judge of the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals.

Breyer’s architectural activities may be limited to the Pritzker jury, which he chaired for the 2019 and 2020 competitions, but his tastes and opinions in areas of public design are rather well known. His reputation as a philosopher has extended over into his Pritzker-judging activities as well, according to Yale SoA Dean Deborah Berke, who said she and the prize’s seven other jury members deeply value his astute and original observations.

“He has a very, very keen eye, not only for buildings but also for their context, their community, and within the building itself its composition and materiality. He sees works of architecture holistically,” the recent Topaz ...

Justice Stephen Breyer to take over for Murcutt as Chair of the Pritzker Architecture Prize Jury

2018-08-16T14:50:00-04:00

Following Glenn Murcutt's retirement as the most recent chair, the Hyatt Foundation has announced that Justice Stephen Breyer will become the new head of the Pritzker Prize's seven-member jury. The U.S. Supreme Court Justice, who celebrated his 80th birthday yesterday, has sat on the panel that awards architecture’s greatest honor since 2011.

Though he never studied architecture, Breyer played a key role in advising the design and construction for the federal courthouse in Boston led by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. He also wrote the foreword to the book "Celebrating the Courthouse: A Guide for Architects, Their Clients, and the Public."

This made him a good choice to serve on the panel back in 2011, when the Prtizker's chairman at the time was hoping to expand the breadth of its jurors' experience. His new role is also not without precedent; Lord Peter Palumbo, a British property developer and art collector, served as chair from 2005 to 2016.

“It is with great pleasure that we design...

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Justice Stephen Breyer will continue to serve on the Pritzker Prize jury after Supreme Court retirement

Justice Stephen Breyer to take over for Murcutt as Chair of the Pritzker Architecture Prize Jury