Archinect - News

David Chipperfield on Fundación RIA and regional planning efforts in northern Spain

2024-06-27T19:54:00-04:00

A strength of Galicia, Chipperfield believes, is the extent to which technocratic versions of modernity have passed it by. “When we were growing up, we sort of knew what progress was. It was silver and shiny. Now we’re not so sure."

In a new interview with Rowan Moore, last year’s Pritzker winner David Chipperfield details his work in Galicia, Spain. In this seaside locale, he says, he’s found a restored sense of "normality" after relocating his life and family there for the summertime beginning in 2020. From there, he established his Fundación RIA, a "little research group" that has been instrumental in helping guide a territorial plan with aims that can be applied to many core issues (a lack of transportation options, livelihood in city centers, and disused structures) plaguing other small cities in the EU and North America.

David Chipperfield reflects on his journey in Pritzker Prize ceremony video

2023-11-14T12:50:00-05:00

A video of the special Pritzker Architecture Prize ceremony honoring this year’s laureate David Chipperfield has been shared with Archinect, following the culmination of the event held this May from the Ancient Agora in Athens.

Chipperfield spoke to a crowd who were assembled at the cultural site in honor of the 45th year of the Pritzker Prize, which has been presented annually by the Hyatt Foundation since its establishment in 1979.

Video courtesy of The Hyatt Foundation/The Pritzker Architecture Prize

“My debts are enormous,” he began in stating. “I’m thankful for this prize but even more thankful for the wonderful journey that got me here... Architectural practice depends not only on creative talent but just as much on the collaboration of individuals within the studio and without. It has been a journey of privilege.”

Other speakers in the documentary-style video include Greek First Lady and designer Mareva Grabowski; Hyatt Foundation Chairman Tom Pritzker; and the Prize’s Jury...

Pritzker Prize winner David Chipperfield and others reflect on the role of architectural practice

2023-05-23T17:19:00-04:00

This year’s Pritzker Prize laureate David Chipperfield has concluded his remarks at the special awards ceremony and presentation held this morning at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA).

Topics covered by Chipperfield’s address include the limits and responsibilities of practice, the market’s influence over the industry, and an overview of his career, all framed by the impetus of climate change and the responsibility of designers within the context of the current global architectural stasis.

Chipperfield began by paying homage to Le Corbusier, Josep Lluís Sert, and the other architects who met at the school for the influential Fourth CIAM Congress on urban planning in August of 1933, stating: “We find ourselves again, in this room, needing more than ever the sort of planning structures that were proposing in order that we can confront the environmental issues of our time.”

“We must become incr...

David Chipperfield's former staffers share their experiences working for the newest Pritzker winner

2023-03-10T06:00:00-05:00

Following this week’s announcement of David Chipperfield as the 46th Pritzker Prize laureate, we reached out to several of his former employees that now run their own firms and studios in order to get their thoughts and recollections on working for the architect as younger designers.

Chipperfield himself benefited greatly from his time in the offices of Richard Rogers and Norman Foster shortly after completing his studies at the Architectural Association (AA) in London and in advance of starting his practice later in 1985. Speaking to Guardian architecture critic Oliver Wainwright after the win, Chipperfield said: “In both those offices, they were quite obsessive about doing more than you’re asked to do.”

“My generation has always been about the product,” he added, “but I believe more than anything now that we need to focus on the process.”

Read about his influence shared by his protégés as to if (and how) their experience at DCA influenced their current practice and stylistic sen...

David Chipperfield is the 2023 Pritzker Prize winner

2023-03-07T10:00:00-05:00

British architect Sir David Chipperfield has been awarded the 2023 Pritzker Prize.

The Pritzker jury described Chipperfield as a "prolific architect who is radical in his restraint, demonstrating his reverence for history and culture while honoring the preexisting built and natural environments, as he reimagines functionality and accessibility of new buildings, renovations and restorations through timeless modern design that confronts climate urgencies, transforms social relationships and reinvigorates cities."

The Neues Museum, courtesy of SPK / David Chipperfield Architects, photo Joerg von Bruchhausen

Chipperfield's work spans over four decades with over one hundred projects ranging from civic, cultural, and academic buildings to residences and urban masterplanning throughout Asia, Europe, and North America. When naming Chipperfield as the 2023 Pritzker laureate, the organizers singled out his Neues Museum restoration (Berlin, Germany, 2009) as demonstrating "Chipperfield’s discer...

And the Archinectors predictions for the 2023 Pritzker Prize are...

2023-03-06T19:01:00-05:00

The results are in for Archinect readers’ annual Pritzker Prize predictions!

Following this discussion forum thread and quick social media polling, Archinectors have come up with their best guesses (along with the usual sarcastic responses) as to who will succeed recent laureates Balkrishna Doshi, Lacaton & Vassal, and Diébédo Francis Kéré for architecture’s highest honor before the winner of this year’s prize will be officially announced tomorrow, March 7th.

The polls on Archinect's Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram channels produced a nearly neck-and-neck tie between David Adjaye and David Chipperfield, likely in response to their mid-career and recent works (including the recent Abrahamic Family House and James Simon Gallery, respectively) and ignoring their criticisms and minor controversies. Moshe Safdie, who just published a memoir and opened important new buildings in South America, was another popular name, along with Jeanne Gang and Obama Presidential Center designers TWBT...