Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal win the 2021 Pritzker Prize

The founding partners and directors of Lacaton & Vassal, with offices in Paris, France, are the winners of the 2021 Pritzker Architecture Prize.

Architects Anne Lacaton (Pardoux la Riviére – France, 1955) and Jean-Philippe Vassal (Casablanca – Morocco, 1954) established Lacaton & Vassal in 1987, seven years after they graduated from the School of Architecture of Bordeaux. Lacaton has been a professor at ETH Zurich since 2017, and a visiting professor in different universities around the world, such as the University of Madrid, the University of Florida: Ivan Smith Studio, the University of NY-Buffalo: Clarkson Chair, and Harvard GSD: Kenzo Tange. Similarly, Vassal has been a professor at the UDK Berlin since 2012 and visiting professor at the Peter Behrens School of Architecture and TU, in Berlin. Both were visiting professors at the Pavilion Neuflize OBC-Palais de Tokyo, EPFL Lausanne, and the Sassari University during the same periods of time.

Having a significant career not only in architectural design but also in urban planning, Lacaton & Vassal are recognized for delivering amazing proposals which, in some ways, are a critique of the architect’s profession, as Irene Conca pointed out during her interview for Arquitectura y Diseño.

The members of the jury said: «Through their belief that architecture is more than just buildings, through the issues they address and the proposals they realize, through forging a responsible and sometimes solitary path illustrating that the best architecture can be humble and is always thoughtful, respectful, and responsible, they have shown that architecture can have a great impact on our communities and contribute to the awareness that we are not alone. For their body of work realized and that of the future, Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal are named the 2021 Pritzker Prize Laureates.»

The jury of the 2021 Pritzker award was formed by the following professionals: 

– Alejandro Aravena, Chair
– André Aranha Corrêa do Lago
– Barry Bergdoll
– Deborah Berke
– Kazuyo Sejima
– Benedetta Tagliabue
– Wang Shu

– Martha Thorne, Executive Director

– Manuela Lucá-Dazio, Advisor

Here you can find the official announcement of the 2021 Pritzker Award