David Chipperfield’s peaceful architecture won the Pritzker Prize

David Chipperfieldthe creator of thoughtful, calm and precise architecture that resists the passage of time and in which balance prevails over exaggeration, won this Tuesday with Pritzker Prize 2023, announced the jury for awarding the award. The British creator – whose studio has one of its offices in Santiago – said he was “devastated” to learn of the award decision, which he had resisted for years. In his youth he trained with Richard Rogers and Norman Foster, and has a very special relationship with Galicia, his second home, where he has been spending his summers for three decades. The architect and his family have a house in Corrubedo.

“As architects we can play a more prominent and committed role in creating not only a more beautiful world, but also a more just and sustainable world,” he said. We must meet this challenge and help the next generation to accept this responsibility with vision and courage.”

Chipperfield (London, 1953) Over four decades, he has signed more than a hundred projects, including interventions on public buildings such as the Neues Museum in Berlin, the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the Office of the Attorney General in Venice and the Veles i Vents building in Valencia.

His studio has offices in London, Berlin, Shanghai, Milan and Santiago de Compostela.

IN Galicia In 2017, he founded RIA, a forum for the discussion, development and promotion of ideas to support the development and protection of the landscape and the local economy in the area, and collaborated with companies such as Sargadelos.

The British architect has his second home in the house he designed himself in the town of Ribeirense corrubedowhere, in addition, a few years ago, one of its historic bars, bar do Porto, was revived.

The Pritzker, considered the world’s highest honor for architecture, joins other awards: the RIBA Royal Gold Medal, the Mies van der Rohe — both in 2011 — and the Heinrich Tessenow Medal (1999).

No two Chipperfields are the same

“Subtle but strong, restrained but elegant, he is a prolific architect who is radical in its moderationshowing his respect for history and culture,” reads the jury’s decision. No two David Chipperfield buildings are the same, but different buildings designed specifically for each situation, the verdict defends.

Faced with the extravagance that has often been the guiding principle of architecture in recent decades, the English architect decided to timeless modernitycharacterized by elegance, which means that many of his buildings go completely unnoticed and cannot be said to be a hallmark of his work.

“Designing is not inventing colors and shapes. It’s about developing a set of questions and ideas that have a certain rigor and consistency,” says Chipperfield. And if you can do that, it doesn’t matter which way you go, as long as you do it right and you’re consistent in the process.”

The new Pritzker marks the path followed for years by the jury of the award, which is dedicated to architecture in the service of citizens and cities, stricter and less spectacular.

“Your buildings will always stand the test of time because the ultimate goal of your business is to serve the common good. Avoiding what is modern has allowed it to survive,” says Alejandro Aravena, president of the jury and also a Pritzker laureate.

Coexistence versus leadership

Critics say of Chipperfield that his buildings do not scream, they speak. The Brit believes that the architect’s role is to encourage new ways of improving life and existence on a planet where humanity has made home a “place of fragility”.

His mode of operation he is especially prized in the museums he designed, the kind of buildings he has an eye for that challenge the idea of ​​it being a place for elite culture.

Chipperfield bucks the fad of creating “art showcases”—which has underpinned the gentrification of many modern cities—and is committed to spaces that break down boundaries and invite public participation.

His most significant interventions can be found in museums such as the Neues Museum and the James Simon Gallery (Berlin), and in new buildings such as the Saint Louis Art Museum (Missouri) and the German Museums of Modern Literature and Folkwang.

“As an architect, I’m kind of a custodian of meaning, memory and heritage,” says Chipperfield. And that is that where other architects see an opportunity to add a stellar project to their portfolio, he sees an opportunity to serve the greater good.

The 2023 Pritzker Prize Ceremony will be held in May in Athens, where the architectural studio was awarded the renovation of the city’s National Archaeological Museum.

Five essential works of Chipperfield

David Chipperfield’s buildings stand out for their thoughtful, classical design, and their radical restraint makes them sometimes inconspicuous. Below we describe five essential buildings for understanding the work of the new Pritzker.

—Neues Museum (Berlin, 2009). The reconstruction of this building devastated during the Second World War was one of the first major works of the English architect and a whole master class on how to bet on conservation versus intervention. The project — partly signed with Julian Harrap — restored the original spirit of the building, intended to house ancient treasures such as Nefertiti’s bust.

The project used meticulously restored old murals and mosaics, and where it was necessary to incorporate new materials, those that evoke the antiquity of the building were chosen, with impressive results.

—Royal Academy of Arts (London, 2018). The project is one of many occasions when Chipperfield decided to go under the radar for the chance to make a splash. The Royal Academy of Arts bought the building next door in the 1990s. The project rehabilitated and connected both, giving coherence to the entire complex. The beauty of the project lies in the barely noticeable connection, despite the fact that it made it possible to get space for exhibitions and conferences.

—Edit Amorepacific (Seoul, 2017). The main goal of the English architect was to create a “building with a special identity”. The ground floor of the imposing building is open on all sides and invites passers-by to enter. He hall de entrada is a place of reception, but also a place of celebration of events and cultural activities, with a museum, library, cafeteria and shopping areas. The offices start on the first floor.

—City of Justice (Barcelona, ​​2002-2011). Instead of one building that would group all the court offices of the city, the architect decided on a dozen buildings, of different colors, interconnected and arranged around the central square. The overall composition tries to break the rigid and monolithic image of justice, creating relationships between different work areas, public areas and landscapes.

—Neue Nationalgalerie (Berlin, 2021). The iconic building by Mies van der Rohe was another chapter in the idyll between Chipperfield and Germany. The restoration of this masterpiece of European architecture involved disassembling, classifying and putting back into place more than 30,000 original parts of the building. Chipperfield repaired the concrete structure and made technical improvements to lighting, security and ventilation, without compromising the original spirit of the building.