It’s high time for Steven Holl to win a Pritzker

It’s that time of year again. In two days, March 17th, the architectural world will be abuzz with the announcing of this year’s Pritzker Prize winner. Of course, half the fun is guessing who the esteemed jury will choose but given how opaque the selection process is, it isn’t always easy to divine who the next laureate will be. Nominees are not made public, leaving architects (and architecture bloggers) the world over to conjecture about the results of the contest. Last year’s winner Wang Shu threw everyone for a loop, a surprise that made us rethink the Pritzker formula entirely. If for most of its history, the award has favored European and American architects whose portfolios consisted of art museums, cultural centers, and villas, now it seems that Pritzker is widening its gaze. Emerging international designers with diverse formal, material, and even social agendas are on the rise.

So back to the question: who is going to win this year’s prize? We’ve narrowed our choices down to ten great architects, one of whom we’re confident will be taking home the award. It’s now or never for a couple of these nominees (Steven Holl, Toyo Ito, Calatrava), while others will surely have more chances at the prize if they lose out on Sunday. Have a look, then tell us who’s going to win in the comments!

Steven Holl (US)

Vanke Conference Center, “Horizontal Skyscraper” (2010), Shenzhen/China; Photo: Iwan Baan

Linked Hybrid (2010), Beijing/China; Photo: Iwan Baan

Sliced Porosity Block (2012), Chengdu/China; Photo: Hufton + Crow

Toyo Ito (Japan)

Sendai Mediatheque (2001), Sendai-shi/Japan

Tama Art University Library (2008), Tokyo/Japan; Photo: Iwan Baan

White O (2009), Marbella/Chile; Photo: Iwan Baan

Kengo Kuma (Japan)

España Library (2007), Santa Domingo/Colombia

Bosque de la Esperanza (2011), Altos de Cazuca/Colombia; Photo: Jorge Gamboa

Four Sport Scenarios (2010), Medellin/Colombia; Photo: Iwan Baan

Sou Fujimoto (Japan)

House NA (2012), Tokyo/Japan; Photo: Iwan Baan

Musashino Art University Museum Library (2010)/ Tokyo, Japan; Photo: Iwan Baan

2013 Serpentine Pavilion (forthcoming)

Möbius House (1998), Amsterdam/Netherlands

Mercedes-Benz Museum (2006), Stuttgart/Germany; Photo: Michael Schnell

Galleria Centercity (2011), Cheonan/South Korea; Photo:  Kim Yong-kwan

The Francis Gregory Library (2012), Washington DC; Photo:Edmund Sumner

Moscow School of Management (2011), Skolkovo/Russia; Photo: Ed Reeve

National Museum of African American History and Culture (expected to open 2015), Washington DC

Santiago Calatrava (Spain)

Quadracci Pavilion at Milwaukee Art Museum (2001), Milwaukee/Wisconisn

The City of Arts and Sciences (2013–), Valencia/Spain,

World Trade Center Transportation Hub (opening in 2016), New York

David Chipperfield (UK) 

River and Rowing Museum (1997), Henley-on-Thames/London; Photo: Richard Bryant

America’s Cup Building (2006), Valencia/Spain

The Hepforth Wakefield (2011), Yorkshire/UK

Liz Diller and Richard Scofidio of Diller Scofidio + Renfro (US)

Blur Building (2002), Yverdon-les-Bains/Switzerland

The Juilliard School (2009), New York; Photo: Iwan Baan

High Line (2009-2014), New York

Our nominees for the 2013 Pritzker Prize:

Steven Holl

Toyo Ito

Kengo Kuma

Giancarlo Mazzanti

Sou Fujimoto

Ben van Berkel

David Adjaye

Santiago Calatrava

David Chipperfield

Liz Diller and Richard Scofidio

via Architizer

http://www.architizer.com/en_us/blog/dyn/79432/tell-us-who-you-think-will-win-the-2013-pritzker-prize/#.UUN_tdanArW