City Chosen for Coveted Architecture Award

BEIJING — Beijing, China will host the 2012 Pritzker Architecture Prize Ceremony next year, announced Beijing mayor Guo Jinlong and Hyatt Foundation Chairman Thomas Pritzker.

The award has been distributed annually for the past 30 years and 14 different countries have hosted the ceremony, with locations ranging from the White House in Washington D.C. to the Todai-ji Temple in Nara, Japan.

“The tradition of moving the event to world sites of architectural significance was established to emphasize that the prize is international, the laureates having been chosen from 16 different nations to date,” Pritzker said. “This will be our 34th event marking the first time we have gone to China.”

Jinlong said the Pritzker Architecture Prize is the most recognized award in the architectural field throughout the world.

“We believe holding this event in Beijing will further raise the awareness of the Pritzker Prize in China, and promote the development of the architectural industry in Beijing and China as a whole,” Jinlong said. “Hosting the ceremony in Beijing will also attract many globally reputable architecture firms and architects to participate in building Beijing as the most livable city and famous cultural capital.”

Many laureates of the program either completed work or have work in progress in China, he added, including Ieoh Ming Pei, who won the prize in 1983.

The current Pritzker jury consists of eight members, and following tradition, includes international architects, educators, and U.S. Supreme Court justice Stephen Breyer.
The location of the ceremony is still under consideration, but will likely be a structure of historic significance, according to officials.

The prize, established in 1979, annually honors a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of “talent, vision, and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture,” foundation officials said.

The Pritzker family chose the architecture field due to its involvement in building development with the Hyatt hotel chain, and because the field is a creative endeavor not included in the Nobel Prizes, officials said.