British civic architect, urban planner, and activist David Chipperfield is the laureate of the 2023 Pritzker Architecture Prize. The prize, regarded as architecture’s highest honor, acknowledges Chipperfield’s expansive portfolio, which this year’s jury deems “understated but transformative.”
Based in his hometown of London, Chipperfield graduated from the Kingston School of Art in 1976 followed by the Architectural Association School of Architecture in 1980. Work under Douglas Stephen as well as former Pritzker Prize laureates Norman Foster and Richard Rogers groomed Chipperfield’s talents, leading to the formation of David Chipperfield Architects in London in 1985. The firm has since expanded and currently operates additional offices in Berlin, Milan, Santiago de Compostela, and Shanghai.
Chipperfield’s early projects include a storefront for late fashion designer Issey Miyake and the River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, UK.
The Hepworth Wakefield in West Yorkshire; photo courtesy of Iwan Baan
Over the course of four decades, his work has transcended typology and geography through more than 100 projects in Asia, Europe, and North America. A prowess for adaptive reuse is exemplified in exercises where preservation and reconstruction are synthesized, like 2009’s Neues Museum in Berlin or the Procuratie Vecchie, a 16th-century Venetian structure that opened to the public for the first time last year. The jury notes Chipperfield’s capacity to “invariably redeem original design and structure rather than supplant it wholly with modern architecture.”
The citation adds, “We do not see an instantly recognizable David Chipperfield building in different cities, but different David Chipperfield buildings designed specifically for each circumstance. Each asserts its presence even as his buildings create new connections with the neighborhood.” Civic designs from the America’s Cup Building in Valencia, Spain to Amorepacific’s headquarters in Seoul also reflect his effortless execution of spaces that organically facilitate coexistence and communion. Other standout projects include the BBC Scotland headquarters in Glasgow; Museo Jumex in Mexico City; and the Royal Academy of Arts masterplan in London.
Procuratie Vecchie in Venice, Italy; photo courtesy of Richard Davies
The highly collaborative architect is also an advocate for social and environmental welfare. “In a world where many architects view a commission as an opportunity to add to their own portfolio, he responds to each project with specific tools that he has selected with preciseness and great care,” says Alejandro Aravena, this year’s jury chair and the 2016 Pritzker Prize recipient. “His buildings will always stand the test of time because the ultimate goal of his operation is to serve the greater good. The avoidance of what’s fashionable has allowed him to remain permanent.”
Among numerous accolades, Chipperfield received both the RIBA Royal Gold Medal and the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture—the Mies van der Rohe Award in 2011, and was awarded the Heinrich Tessenow Medal in 1999. Chipperfield will be formally honored as this year’s Pritzker Architecture Prize during a ceremony in Athens this May.
