The Pritzker Architecture Prize: The First Twenty Years Book

There is no Nobel Prize for architecture, but ever since 1979 the Pritzker Architecture Prize has filled that gap. Though just over 20 years old, it is the best known and most glamorous of five major international architectural awards. The prize takes its name from the Pritzker family of Chicago--hoteliers whose dramatic, atrium-centered properties revolutionized hotel architecture--who fund the prize, which is awarded annually to a living architect for a body of work rather than to or for a single building. Over the years, the high-powered Pritzker jury has been catholic in its tastes, honoring well-established candidates such as Philip Johnson, James Stirling, I.M. Pei, Luis Barragan, Kenzo Tange, Renzo Piano, Fumihiko Maki, and Richard Meier; gifted boat-rockers such as Robert Venturi and Frank Gehry; and some lesser-known practitioners. The end result is a generally lively mix of 21 winners from 12 nations and four continents. This book is a nice introduction to the work of many of the best designers of the last generation or two. It is a handsomely designed large-format volume that contains 370 well-reproduced illustrations, 200 of them in color. It also includes essays by five writers: editor Martha Thorne, Pritzker officials J. Carter Brown and Bill Lacy, architectural historian William Curtis, and critic Colin Amery. And most of its pages contain short portfolios featuring three of each honoree's buildings--just enough to whet one's appetite. If you find a designer of interest here, you may decide to seek out a more comprehensive book on his work. (Yes, all the honorees so far have been men.) --John PastierRead More