Sir David Alan Chipperfield CH Receives the 2023 Pritzker Architecture Prize

Civic architect, urban planner and activist, Sir David Alan Chipperfield CH has been selected as the 2023 Laureate of The Pritzker Architecture Prize, the award that is regarded internationally as architecture’s highest honor.

Established by the Hyatt Foundation in 1979, the annual award honors architects whose built work demonstrates a combination talent, vision, and commitment. Last year, Francis Kéré became the first black architect to win the prize, while 2021 saw Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal honored for their collaborative practiceSubtle yet powerful, subdued yet elegant, he is 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.

“I am so overwhelmed to receive this extraordinary honour and to be associated with the previous recipients who have all given so much inspiration to the profession,” remarks Chipperfield. “I take this award as an encouragement to continue to direct my attention not only to the substance of architecture and its meaning but also to the contribution that we can make as architects to address the existential challenges of climate change and societal inequality. We know that, as architects, we can have a more prominent and engaged role in creating not only a more beautiful world but a fairer and more sustainable one too. We must rise to this challenge and help inspire the next generation to embrace this responsibility with vision and courage.

Born in London in 1953, Pritzker Prize-winner Sir David Alan Chipperfield was raised on a farm in Devon, in the south-west of England. He has noted that his earliest memories of architecture are from the collection of barns and outbuildings on the farm, which filled him with a sense of nostalgia. After graduating from the Kingston School of Art in 1976 and the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London in 1980, he worked under Douglas Stephen, Norman Foster, 1999 Pritzker Prize Laureate, and the late Richard Rogers, 2007 Pritzker Prize Laureate, before founding David Chipperfield Architects in London in 1985.

His noted projects (some pictured below) include:
River and Rowing Museum (Henley-on-Thames, United Kingdom, 1997)
BBC Scotland headquarters (Glasgow, United Kingdom, 2007)
Turner Contemporary (Margate, United Kingdom, 2011)
Campus Saint Louis Art Museum (Missouri, United States of America, 2013)
Museo Jumex (Mexico City, Mexico, 2013)
One Pancras Square (London, United Kingdom, 2013)
Royal Academy of Arts masterplan (London, United Kingdom, 2018)
Hoxton Press (London, United Kingdom, 2018)
Kunsthaus Zürich (Zurich, Switzerland, 2020)