The Pritzker Prize is the most prestigious international prize for architecture. Awarded annually to a living architect by an independent jury of experts, its purpose is ‘to honour a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture.’

Architect is the first book to document what the Pritzker Prize laureates have said and written about their field, with a selection of their major built works, seen in more than 700 images.

Architect begins in 2010 and retraces the laureates back to the debut of the prize in 1979 showing their important built works including schools and libraries, museums, residences, shops, airports, courthouses, stadiums and hotels.

These architects, who collectively have shaped our built environment, talk about what matters to them – light, materials and sustainability, for example – as well as their heroes and what buildings they admire – 35 Pritzker Prize laureates who speak directly to us about what they do and why.