Who won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2026?

Chilean architect Smiljan Radić Clarke. The 2026 laureate is recognised for a body of work that pairs stone and narrative — projects including the Mestizo restaurant in Santiago and the 2014 Serpentine Pavilion in London. Radić is the second Chilean to win the prize, after Alejandro Aravena in 2016.

What is the Pritzker Architecture Prize?

The most prestigious individual award in architecture, founded in 1979 by Jay and Cindy Pritzker through the Hyatt Foundation. The prize honours a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of talent, vision, and commitment that has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity through architecture. The laureate receives $100,000 USD and a bronze medallion.

How many architects have won the Pritzker Prize?

As of 2026, the prize has been awarded 48 times. Several years awarded the prize to multiple laureates (1988 to Gordon Bunshaft and Oscar Niemeyer; 2001 to Herzog & de Meuron; 2010 to SANAA; 2017 to RCR Arquitectes; 2020 to Grafton Architects; 2021 to Lacaton & Vassal), bringing the individual laureate count higher than the edition count.

Who was the first woman to win the Pritzker Prize?

Zaha Hadid, in 2004. She remained the only woman to win the prize alone until Kazuyo Sejima shared the 2010 award with Ryue Nishizawa as SANAA. Yvonne Farrell, Shelley McNamara (Grafton Architects, 2020), Anne Lacaton (with Jean-Philippe Vassal, 2021), and Carme Pigem (with RCR Arquitectes, 2017) have followed.

Who founded the Pritzker Architecture Prize?

Jay A. Pritzker and his wife Cindy founded the prize in 1979 through the Hyatt Foundation, which they had endowed. The prize draws explicit comparison to the Nobel Prize — both in its lack of categorisation by speciality and in its annual single-laureate format. The Pritzker family also founded the Hyatt hotel chain.

Which countries have produced the most Pritzker laureates?

Japan leads with eight laureates (Tange, Maki, Ando, Ito, Sejima/Nishizawa as a shared award, Ban, Isozaki, Yamamoto). The United States has produced seven (Johnson, Pei, Meier, Bunshaft as a shared award, Gehry, Venturi, Mayne). France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Switzerland have each produced four. Chile and China have produced two each.

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●Reference/ canonical archive · maintained

Pritzker Architecture Prize, 1979–2026.

Every laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize since the Hyatt Foundation established the award in 1979. The prize is named for its founders, Jay A. and Cindy Pritzker, and is most often described as architecture’s Nobel — a single, annual, global laureate with a $100,000 purse and a bronze medallion. Six editions have produced multiple laureates. Maintained by the office; corrections to editor@faxoffice1987.com.

Last updated · 15 MAY 2026 · See also: Loewe Craft Prize winners · LVMH Prize winners

1979
Philip Johnson
United States
Inaugural prize; postmodernism's American architect-curator.
1980
Luis Barragán
Mexico
Pink walls, water, light. Color as architectural material.
1981
James Stirling
United Kingdom
Stuttgart Staatsgalerie; postmodern bricolage with civic weight.
1982
Kevin Roche
Ireland / United States
Eero Saarinen successor; corporate modernism after the master.
1983
I.M. Pei
United States
Louvre Pyramid, National Gallery East Wing. Geometric modernism.
1984
Richard Meier
United States
White-on-white modernist. Getty Center programme.
1985
Hans Hollein
Austria
Postmodern jeweller of small objects and museum interiors.
1986
Gottfried Böhm
Germany
Expressionist concrete; the Neviges pilgrimage church.
1987
Kenzo Tange
Japan
Metabolist movement's elder; Tokyo Olympic stadia 1964.
1988
Gordon Bunshaft & Oscar Niemeyer
United States / BrazilShared award
Two-laureate edition. Lever House (Bunshaft) + Brasília (Niemeyer).
1989
Frank Gehry
Canada / United States
Pre-Bilbao breakthrough year. Deconstructivism on the brink.
1990
Aldo Rossi
Italy
Italian rationalism; the autobiographical typology argument.
1991
Robert Venturi
United States
"Less is a bore." Learning from Las Vegas as architectural theory.
1992
Alvaro Siza
Portugal
Quiet Iberian modernism; ocean swimming pools at Leça.
1993
Fumihiko Maki
Japan
Lightweight metabolism; Spiral Building in Tokyo as the type.
1994
Christian de Portzamparc
France
Open-block urban planning; the Cité de la Musique.
1995
Tadao Ando
Japan
Self-taught. Concrete and light. The Church of the Light.
1996
Rafael Moneo
Spain
Roman archaeology museum, Mérida. Material as historical argument.
1997
Sverre Fehn
Norway
Nordic vernacular distilled. The Hedmark Museum.
1998
Renzo Piano
Italy
Post-Pompidou museum architect. Beyeler Foundation, The Shard.
1999
Norman Foster
United Kingdom
High-tech corporate; Hong Kong HSBC building, Apple Park.
2000
Rem Koolhaas
Netherlands
OMA founder. Programmatic excess. Delirious New York as method.
2001
Jacques Herzog & Pierre de Meuron
SwitzerlandShared award
Tate Modern, Bird's Nest stadium. Surface materiality as program.
2002
Glenn Murcutt
Australia
Single-architect practice; vernacular environmental restraint.
2003
Jørn Utzon
Denmark
Sydney Opera House. The first proper Pritzker for an icon.
2004
Zaha Hadid
United Kingdom / Iraq
First woman to win. Deconstructivist forms, parametric futurism.
2005
Thom Mayne
United States
Morphosis founder. Layered fragmentation as institutional language.
2006
Paulo Mendes da Rocha
Brazil
São Paulo brutalist; concrete civic restraint, MuBE museum.
2007
Richard Rogers
United Kingdom
Centre Pompidou (with Piano); high-tech inside-out architecture.
2008
Jean Nouvel
France
Institut du Monde Arabe, Louvre Abu Dhabi. Light as facade material.
2009
Peter Zumthor
Switzerland
Therme Vals. Atmospheric architecture; site-specific materiality.
2010
Kazuyo Sejima & Ryue Nishizawa
JapanShared award
SANAA founders. White minimalism, transparency, light.
2011
Eduardo Souto de Moura
Portugal
Stone simplicity in northern Portugal; the Braga Stadium.
2012
Wang Shu
China
First Chinese laureate. Reclaimed tile in Ningbo, vernacular modernity.
2013
Toyo Ito
Japan
Sendai Mediatheque. Algorithmic curves; the fluid library.
2014
Shigeru Ban
Japan
Paper tube humanitarian shelters; post-disaster architecture as discipline.
2015
Frei Otto
Germany
Tensile structures pioneer. Munich Olympic roof. Awarded posthumously.
2016
Alejandro Aravena
Chile
ELEMENTAL's half-built social housing; the participatory turn.
2017
Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem & Ramon Vilalta
SpainShared award
RCR Arquitectes (Catalonia). The first three-person laureate cohort.
2018
Balkrishna Doshi
India
First Indian laureate. Ahmedabad-based; Aranya housing as model.
2019
Arata Isozaki
Japan
Postmodern globalist; Palau Sant Jordi, MoCA Los Angeles.
2020
Yvonne Farrell & Shelley McNamara
IrelandShared award
Grafton Architects. Civic-weight institutional buildings.
2021
Anne Lacaton & Jean-Philippe Vassal
FranceShared award
"Never demolish." Preservation through transformation, Bordeaux 530.
2022
Diébédo Francis Kéré
Burkina Faso / Germany
First African laureate. Clay vernacular, schools in Gando.
2023
Sir David Chipperfield
United Kingdom
Restraint as method; Neues Museum Berlin reconstruction.
2024
Riken Yamamoto
Japan
Communal threshold architecture; Saitama Prefectural University.
2025
Liu Jiakun
China
Chengdu-based practice. Re-bricks of earthquake rubble. Second Chinese laureate.
2026
Smiljan Radić Clarke
Chile
Stone, texture, narrative weight; the Mestizo restaurant, Serpentine 2014 pavilion.

Frequently asked

Who won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2026?: Chilean architect Smiljan Radić Clarke. The 2026 laureate is recognised for a body of work that pairs stone and narrative — projects including the Mestizo restaurant in Santiago and the 2014 Serpentine Pavilion in London. Radić is the second Chilean to win the prize, after Alejandro Aravena in 2016.
What is the Pritzker Architecture Prize?: The most prestigious individual award in architecture, founded in 1979 by Jay and Cindy Pritzker through the Hyatt Foundation. The prize honours a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of talent, vision, and commitment that has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity through architecture. The laureate receives $100,000 USD and a bronze medallion.
How many architects have won the Pritzker Prize?: As of 2026, the prize has been awarded 48 times. Several years awarded the prize to multiple laureates (1988 to Gordon Bunshaft and Oscar Niemeyer; 2001 to Herzog & de Meuron; 2010 to SANAA; 2017 to RCR Arquitectes; 2020 to Grafton Architects; 2021 to Lacaton & Vassal), bringing the individual laureate count higher than the edition count.
Who was the first woman to win the Pritzker Prize?: Zaha Hadid, in 2004. She remained the only woman to win the prize alone until Kazuyo Sejima shared the 2010 award with Ryue Nishizawa as SANAA. Yvonne Farrell, Shelley McNamara (Grafton Architects, 2020), Anne Lacaton (with Jean-Philippe Vassal, 2021), and Carme Pigem (with RCR Arquitectes, 2017) have followed.
Who founded the Pritzker Architecture Prize?: Jay A. Pritzker and his wife Cindy founded the prize in 1979 through the Hyatt Foundation, which they had endowed. The prize draws explicit comparison to the Nobel Prize — both in its lack of categorisation by speciality and in its annual single-laureate format. The Pritzker family also founded the Hyatt hotel chain.
Which countries have produced the most Pritzker laureates?: Japan leads with eight laureates (Tange, Maki, Ando, Ito, Sejima/Nishizawa as a shared award, Ban, Isozaki, Yamamoto). The United States has produced seven (Johnson, Pei, Meier, Bunshaft as a shared award, Gehry, Venturi, Mayne). France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Switzerland have each produced four. Chile and China have produced two each.

Sources

Maintained by the office · One editor in Istanbul, AI in the loop, edited by hand.

Pritzker Architecture Prize, 1979–2026.

1979

Philip Johnson

United States

Inaugural prize; postmodernism's American architect-curator.

1980

Luis Barragán

Mexico

Pink walls, water, light. Color as architectural material.

1981

James Stirling

United Kingdom

Stuttgart Staatsgalerie; postmodern bricolage with civic weight.

1982

Kevin Roche

Ireland / United States

Eero Saarinen successor; corporate modernism after the master.

1983

I.M. Pei

United States

Louvre Pyramid, National Gallery East Wing. Geometric modernism.

1984

Richard Meier

United States

White-on-white modernist. Getty Center programme.

1985

Hans Hollein

Austria

Postmodern jeweller of small objects and museum interiors.

1986

Gottfried Böhm

Germany

Expressionist concrete; the Neviges pilgrimage church.

1987

Kenzo Tange

Japan

Metabolist movement's elder; Tokyo Olympic stadia 1964.

1988

Gordon Bunshaft & Oscar Niemeyer

United States / BrazilShared award

Two-laureate edition. Lever House (Bunshaft) + Brasília (Niemeyer).

1989

Frank Gehry

Canada / United States

Pre-Bilbao breakthrough year. Deconstructivism on the brink.

1990

Aldo Rossi

Italy

Italian rationalism; the autobiographical typology argument.

1991

Robert Venturi

United States

"Less is a bore." Learning from Las Vegas as architectural theory.

1992

Alvaro Siza

Portugal

Quiet Iberian modernism; ocean swimming pools at Leça.

1993

Fumihiko Maki

Japan

Lightweight metabolism; Spiral Building in Tokyo as the type.

1994

Christian de Portzamparc

France

Open-block urban planning; the Cité de la Musique.

1995

Tadao Ando

Japan

Self-taught. Concrete and light. The Church of the Light.

1996

Rafael Moneo

Spain

Roman archaeology museum, Mérida. Material as historical argument.

1997

Sverre Fehn

Norway

Nordic vernacular distilled. The Hedmark Museum.

1998

Renzo Piano

Italy

Post-Pompidou museum architect. Beyeler Foundation, The Shard.

1999

Norman Foster

United Kingdom

High-tech corporate; Hong Kong HSBC building, Apple Park.

2000

Rem Koolhaas

Netherlands

OMA founder. Programmatic excess. Delirious New York as method.

2001

Jacques Herzog & Pierre de Meuron

SwitzerlandShared award

Tate Modern, Bird's Nest stadium. Surface materiality as program.

2002

Glenn Murcutt

Australia

Single-architect practice; vernacular environmental restraint.

2003

Jørn Utzon

Denmark

Sydney Opera House. The first proper Pritzker for an icon.

2004

Zaha Hadid

United Kingdom / Iraq

First woman to win. Deconstructivist forms, parametric futurism.

2005

Thom Mayne

United States

Morphosis founder. Layered fragmentation as institutional language.

2006

Paulo Mendes da Rocha

Brazil

São Paulo brutalist; concrete civic restraint, MuBE museum.

2007

Richard Rogers

United Kingdom

Centre Pompidou (with Piano); high-tech inside-out architecture.

2008

Jean Nouvel

France

Institut du Monde Arabe, Louvre Abu Dhabi. Light as facade material.

2009

Peter Zumthor

Switzerland

Therme Vals. Atmospheric architecture; site-specific materiality.

2010

Kazuyo Sejima & Ryue Nishizawa

JapanShared award

SANAA founders. White minimalism, transparency, light.

2011

Eduardo Souto de Moura

Portugal

Stone simplicity in northern Portugal; the Braga Stadium.

2012

Wang Shu

China

First Chinese laureate. Reclaimed tile in Ningbo, vernacular modernity.

2013

Toyo Ito

Japan

Sendai Mediatheque. Algorithmic curves; the fluid library.

2014

Shigeru Ban

Japan

Paper tube humanitarian shelters; post-disaster architecture as discipline.

2015

Frei Otto

Germany

Tensile structures pioneer. Munich Olympic roof. Awarded posthumously.

2016

Alejandro Aravena

Chile

ELEMENTAL's half-built social housing; the participatory turn.

2017

Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem & Ramon Vilalta

SpainShared award

RCR Arquitectes (Catalonia). The first three-person laureate cohort.

2018

Balkrishna Doshi

India

First Indian laureate. Ahmedabad-based; Aranya housing as model.

2019

Arata Isozaki

Japan

Postmodern globalist; Palau Sant Jordi, MoCA Los Angeles.

2020

Yvonne Farrell & Shelley McNamara

IrelandShared award

Grafton Architects. Civic-weight institutional buildings.

2021

Anne Lacaton & Jean-Philippe Vassal

FranceShared award

"Never demolish." Preservation through transformation, Bordeaux 530.

2022

Diébédo Francis Kéré

Burkina Faso / Germany

First African laureate. Clay vernacular, schools in Gando.

2023

Sir David Chipperfield

United Kingdom

Restraint as method; Neues Museum Berlin reconstruction.

2024

Riken Yamamoto

Japan

Communal threshold architecture; Saitama Prefectural University.

2025

Liu Jiakun

China

Chengdu-based practice. Re-bricks of earthquake rubble. Second Chinese laureate.

2026

Smiljan Radić Clarke

Chile

Stone, texture, narrative weight; the Mestizo restaurant, Serpentine 2014 pavilion.

Frequently asked

Who won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2026?: Chilean architect Smiljan Radić Clarke. The 2026 laureate is recognised for a body of work that pairs stone and narrative — projects including the Mestizo restaurant in Santiago and the 2014 Serpentine Pavilion in London. Radić is the second Chilean to win the prize, after Alejandro Aravena in 2016.
What is the Pritzker Architecture Prize?: The most prestigious individual award in architecture, founded in 1979 by Jay and Cindy Pritzker through the Hyatt Foundation. The prize honours a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of talent, vision, and commitment that has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity through architecture. The laureate receives $100,000 USD and a bronze medallion.
How many architects have won the Pritzker Prize?: As of 2026, the prize has been awarded 48 times. Several years awarded the prize to multiple laureates (1988 to Gordon Bunshaft and Oscar Niemeyer; 2001 to Herzog & de Meuron; 2010 to SANAA; 2017 to RCR Arquitectes; 2020 to Grafton Architects; 2021 to Lacaton & Vassal), bringing the individual laureate count higher than the edition count.
Who was the first woman to win the Pritzker Prize?: Zaha Hadid, in 2004. She remained the only woman to win the prize alone until Kazuyo Sejima shared the 2010 award with Ryue Nishizawa as SANAA. Yvonne Farrell, Shelley McNamara (Grafton Architects, 2020), Anne Lacaton (with Jean-Philippe Vassal, 2021), and Carme Pigem (with RCR Arquitectes, 2017) have followed.
Who founded the Pritzker Architecture Prize?: Jay A. Pritzker and his wife Cindy founded the prize in 1979 through the Hyatt Foundation, which they had endowed. The prize draws explicit comparison to the Nobel Prize — both in its lack of categorisation by speciality and in its annual single-laureate format. The Pritzker family also founded the Hyatt hotel chain.
Which countries have produced the most Pritzker laureates?: Japan leads with eight laureates (Tange, Maki, Ando, Ito, Sejima/Nishizawa as a shared award, Ban, Isozaki, Yamamoto). The United States has produced seven (Johnson, Pei, Meier, Bunshaft as a shared award, Gehry, Venturi, Mayne). France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Switzerland have each produced four. Chile and China have produced two each.

Maintained by the office · One editor in Istanbul, AI in the loop, edited by hand.