Arata Isozaki Wins 2019 Pritzker Prize

Today’s naming of Arata Isozaki (born 1931) as the latest Pritzker Prize laureate comes one year after the prestigious prize went to Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi (b. 1927). When seen in concert with 2015 laureate Frei Otto (1925-2015), there is an apparent propensity for the Pritzker jurors to award the Prize as a lifetime achievement.

But when seen relative to the most recent laureates from Isozaki's home country, the Pritzer Prize has more often been given to architects nearing their prime, not later. Shigeru Ban was 56 when he was named the 2014 recipient, though Toyo Ito was a bit older at 71 when he won in 2013. Kazuyo Sejima was also 56 when she won in 2010, ten years older than fellow laureate Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA.

Focusing on Doshi, who is now 91, and the 87-year-old Isozaki, the Pritzker Architecture Prize is drawing attention to architects who should have been laureates earlier. In both cases their most powerful and influential work was produced decades ago. With Isozaki it was in the 1970s through the 1990s, in buildings both in Japan and overseas. Some of those buildings can be seen following the Pritzker announcement and jury citation below. 

• Stephen Breyer (Jury Chair), U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Washington, D.C., USA
• André Corrêa do Lago, architectural critic, curator, and Brazilian Ambassador to Japan, Tokyo, Japan
• Richard Rogers, architect and 2007 Pritzker Laureate, London, United Kingdom
• Kazuyo Sejima, architect and 2010 Pritzker Laureate, Tokyo, Japan
• Wang Shu, architect, educator, and 2012 Pritzker Laureate, Hangzhou, China
• Benedetta Tagliabue, architect and director of EMBT Miralles Tagliabue, Barcelona, Spain
• Ratan N. Tata, Chairman of Tata Trusts, Mumbai, India
• Martha Thorne (Executive Director), Dean, IE School of Architecture & Design, Madrid, Spain