As the Pritzker Prize marks its 40th anniversary with the upcoming 2018 edition, the award which has come to be known internationally as architecture’s highest honor welcomes two new members to its jury: architect and 2012 Laureate Wang Shu and André Aranha Corrêa do Lago. They will be... View full entry
Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem and Ramon Vilalta, all three co-founders of RCR Arquitectes, have been named the laureates of the 2017 Pritzker Prize. Dubbed as the "Nobel Prize" of architecture, the illustrious Pritzker isn't only a big deal in terms of prestige. Once the latest laureate is... View full entry
Almost singing the refrain, "What do awards have to do with it?" writer Ben Willis investigates the disconnect between the plethora of architectural awards, both those that recognize aesthetics and those that focus on data-driven technical specs, and the public's (and for that matter, other... View full entry
Tired of all those repetitive Pritzker-prediction lists? Always those same, predictable bigly names, and when was the last time they actually got it right? It's time to cut through all the crap and go straight to the source to get the info — the ones who operate at a higher level than any... View full entry
Aravena polished off his beer when a stranger sidled up to the table. It happens all the time now. Drivers in passing cars stop him in the street. Shop clerks, politicians, long-lost acquaintances and schoolteachers ask for selfies with him. They all say the same thing. “Thank you,” the stranger said to Aravena, who smiled and posed arm in arm with the man for a picture. Thank you — as if the Pritzker prize...had been awarded on behalf of everybody in Chile. — nytimes.com
Michael Kimmelman, architecture critic for the New York Times, profiles Alejandro Aravena's projects in his native Chile, on the cusp of this year's Venice Biennale opening (which Aravena is also directing). The profile largely focuses on Aravena's social practice, and its attempts at... View full entry
ICYMI Amelia Taylor-Hochberg published a 3 part interview with Coy Howard, by students in John Southern's “Architectural Media and Publishing” Cultural Studies seminar at SCI-Arc. Ewa Lenart was impressed "Great Work and greatly inspiring teacher!" Plus, Nicholas Korody explored... View full entry
As the stories of Hadid and Scott Brown show, the pairing of architecture prizes (or at least the big ones) and women raises hackles. Hadid won the Pritzker Prize amid talk that she did not deserve it; Scott Brown did not win the prize amid talk that she did not deserve it. No solo female architect has won the Pritzker Prize since Hadid, nor has a husband-and-wife architectural team ever been honored. Indeed, to date, of the 39 Pritzker Prize laureates, only two (or about 5 percent) are women. — Despina Stratigakos
Excerpted from her new book, Despina Stratigakos sheds some light on the Pritzker's lack of awarding women architects in their own right.More on Archinect:Despina Stratigakos on the emerging "third wave of feminism" in architectureWhy Zaha Hadid's gender and ethnicity mattered so muchWhy... View full entry
The suspicion is that the Pritzker judges haven’t changed all that much, and are backing an iconic-humanitarian architect, a flipside to the starchitects they previously promoted rather than a radical alternative [...]
Some scepticism is in order, as to whether the Pritzker committee have suddenly become experts in the vastly complicated business of humanitarian architecture and whether there might be a large dose of gesture and symbolism in their actions.
— theguardian.com
Related on Archinect.:Why is the Pritzker such a big deal?Race for the Prize – Aravena's Pritzker ceremony, the scourge of unpaid internships and more on Archinect Sessions #59Inside Aravena's open source plans for low-cost yet upgradable housing"It’s going to be about gratitude and it’s... View full entry
Last week we witnessed the loss of Dame Zaha Hadid, one of architecture's most formidable and prolific talents. We'll be devoting a later podcast episode to remembering her and honoring her work. Until then, we'll continue catching you up with the most significant architecture news from the past... View full entry
Yesterday, the Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena was awarded the Pritzker Prize during a ceremony at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. Known for his socially-engaged practice, Elemental, Aravena will also serve as the curator for this summer's Venice Biennale.“The work of this... View full entry
What was it like to be Zaha Hadid? From teaching to developing her vision to turning down an opportunity to work with Rem Koolhaas, in this remembrance we collect a few of Zaha's first-person writings and interviews about her life and work from her unparalleled, groundbreaking career. On being a... View full entry
As native Chicagoans, it’s not surprising that our family was keenly aware of architecture [...] While the architecture of Chicago made us cognizant of the art of architecture, our work with designing and building hotels made us aware of the impact architecture could have on human behavior. So in 1978, when we were approached with the idea of honoring living architects, we were responsive. — Thomas J. Pritzker — Forbes
A brief history on the family behind "the architecture profession's highest honor", and how the prize was established.For more, check out Archinect's most recent coverage on the Pritzker Prize:Why is the Pritzker such a big deal?Aravena's Pritzker: A Critical Round-Up"Making A Pritzker Laureate"... View full entry
Will Galloway profiles the work of Samira Boon who in in recent years "has turned to an interesting series of research-led design projects focusing on making 3D fabrics" and immersed herself "in research on structural textiles". Plus, Nicholas Korody rounded up the Critical Reaction to the... View full entry
When news broke yesterday that Alejandro Aravena was the winner of this year's Pritzker Architecture Prize, reactions were generally positive, albeit a bit conflicted. Aravena is most praised, and cited by the Pritzker, for his work on social housing projects in his home base of Santiago de... View full entry
The Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena has been named Pritzker Prize Laureate for 2016. The 48-year old is known for his socially-minded work at various scales in Chile, produced under two forms of practice – principal of his private firm, Alejandro Aravena Architects, and executive director... View full entry
