Architects: Peter Zumthor
Collaborators: Marc Loeliger, Thomas Durisch and Rainer Weitschies
Location: Graubunden Canton, Switzerland
Project completed: 1996

In April 2009, about two weeks before his 66th birthday, Swiss architect Peter Zumthor was named the 2009 laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Zumthor is not a household name, as many other Pritzker winners have been — architects such as Gehry, Meier, and Pei. Even many architects haven’t heard of him. But Zumthor has been described as an “architect’s architect.” His works are not numerous, given a practice of over 30 years, but each one is carefully crafted, materially exquisite, and atmospherically evocative. Read the rest of this entry »

The 2010 Pritzker Prize goes to SANAA!

In praising SANAA’s “collaborative partnership,” the Pritzker jury noted that “it is virtually impossible to untangle which individual is responsible for what aspect of a particular project. Each building is ultimately a work that comes from the union of their two minds.”

Some of their most recent projects include:

• Zollverein School of Design – 2003 to 2006 - Essen, Germany
• Naoshima Ferry Terminal – 2003 to 2006 - Kagawa, Japan
• The New Museum of Contemporary Art – 2003 to 2007 - New York City, New York
• Novartis Office Building – 2003 to Present - Basel, Switzerland
• House for the CIPEA (China International Practical Exhibition of Architecture) – 2004 to Present - Nanjing, China
• Rolex Learning Center at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne – 2004 to Present - Lausanne, Switzerland
• Serpentine Gallery Pavilion – 2009 - London, England
• The Learning Center (at EPFL) – 2010 - Lausanne, Switzerland

The architects will receive the award, which includes a $100,000 cash prize, in a May 17 ceremony on Ellis Island in New York. They join Kenzo Tange (1987), Fumihiko Maki (1993) and Tadao Ando (1995) as Pritzker laureates from Japan.