Pritzker Architecture Prize

Pritzker Architecture Prize, prize awarded annually to honor living architects. The prize was established by the Hyatt Foundation in 1979 and named after the family of the award’s founders, Chicago businessman Jay Pritzker and his wife Cindy. The Pritzker family’s business interests include the Hyatt Hotels. The Pritzker Prize is widely regarded as the most prestigious award for architecture.

Nominations for the Pritzker Prize come in from around the world. Anyone can send in a nomination. More than 500 architects from over 40 countries are nominated each year for the prize. An international jury of architects, business leaders, and architectural critics and historians selects the winner by secret ballot. Winners receive a $100,000 prize and a bronze medallion. The first Pritzker Prize, in 1979, went to American architect Philip Johnson. Later award winners include Americans Frank Gehry in 1989 and Robert Venturi in 1991, Italian architect Renzo Piano in 1998, and Danish architect Jørn Utzon in 2003. In 2004 Iraqi-born British architect Zaha Hadid became the first woman to receive the award.