Japanese architect Arata Isozaki wins 2019 Pritzker Prize

Japanese architect Arata Isozaki is the winner of the 2019 Pritzker Prize , the "Nobel Prize of Architecture", announced yesterday, Tuesday (05/03). The jury of the award said that Isozaki, 87 years old, was internationally recognized with the greatest honor of architecture because of his original and visionary approach. "Possessing a deep knowledge of architectural history and theory, and embracing the avant-garde, he never simply reproduced the status quo," the jury said. The architect's career spans more than six decades and over 100 completed buildings across Asia, Europe, North America, the Middle East and Australia. His major works include the Ceramic Park Mino and Art Tower Mito in Japan, the Pala Alpitour and the Allianz Tower in Italy, the Qatar National Convention Center and the Shanghai Symphony Hall in China.

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the architect’s first international building, has drawn particular praise from the organizers of the Pritzker Prize. The red Indian sandstone building follows Isozaki’s sense of scale through an assembly of volumes, while includes the golden ratio and yin-yang theory, evoking the complementary nature of Western and Eastern relations. Isozaki's first architectural successes occurred in the era following the Allied occupation of Japan, when the country attempted to rebuild itself from the ruins of World War II. The 2019 Pritzker Prize cements Asia’s position in international architecture. While the Pritzker Prize has traditionally been seen as Western-centric, Isozaki is the seventh Asian architect to receive the award in the past 10 years. Japan has produced eight laureates, including the recent winners. Tadao Ando and Shigeru Ban. Isozaki's achievement puts Japan alongside the United States, which – including Canadian-born American Frank Gehry – has also produced eight Pritzker winners.

Ginásio Esportivo Palau Sant Jordi, em Barcelona, na Espanha. (Reprodução)