Justice Stephen Breyer has been named as the new Chair of the Pritzker Architecture Prize Jury, following the retirement of the most recent Chair, Glenn Murcutt, announced by Tom Pritzker, the current president of The Hyatt Foundation.

Breyer will lead a seven-member jury panel for this prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize, the prize is known internationally as architecture’s highest honor and this year will mark the 41st year of the accolade.

Despite not being a graduate of architecture, Stephen Breyer become an important figure in advising in the design and construction industry, with Judge Douglas Woodlock.

He worked closely with Harry Cobb of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, the firm behind the project the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse and Harbor Park in Boston.

In 2011, Breyer also took part in the eight-person Pritzker Architecture Prize Jury with Zaha Hadid. His longstanding interest in architecture now moved him to a lead position in this prestigious prize jury panel. 

Justice Breyer also wrote the foreword to Celebrating the Courthouse: A Guide for Architects, Their Clients, and the Public (W. W. Norton & Company). He was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in 1980 and become Chief Judge in 1990. In 1994 he was appointed a Supreme Court Justice by President Clinton.

"It is with great pleasure that we designate Justice Breyer as Jury Chair," commented Tom Pritzker.

"His devotion to civic-minded architecture underscores the mission of the Prize and his unparalleled ability to guide a group deliberation is essential in creating a unified voice within this diverse and international panel of jurors."

Following the retirement of Glenn Murcutt and Lord Peter Palumbo, who served as Chair from 2005 to 2016, the other jury members for the 2019 award will include André Corrêa do Lago, architectural critic, curator, and Brazilian Ambassador to Japan, Tokyo, Japan; Richard Rogers, architect and 2007 Pritzker Laureate, London, United Kingdom; Kazuyo Sejima, architect, educator and 2010 Pritzker Laureate, Tokyo, Japan; Benedetta Tagliabue, architect and director of EMBT Miralles Tagliabue, Barcelona, Spain; Ratan N. Tata, Chairman of Tata Trusts, Mumbai, India; and Wang Shu, architect, educator, and 2012 Pritzker Laureate, Hangzhou, China. Martha Thorne, Executive Director of the Pritzker Prize and also Dean of IE School of Architecture and Design manages the open nominations process, which accepts suggestions from architects from all over the world.

The 2018 Pritzker Prize was most recently awarded to Balkrishna Doshi in Toronto, Canada, and the 2019 Laureate will be announced next spring. 

Top image: Justice Stephen Breyer, courtesy of quotation.com

> via Pritzker Architecture Prize