YSoA Dean Deborah Berke appointed member of Pritzker Prize jury
Deborah Berke, dean of the Yale School of Architecture (YSoA), was recently appointed as a member of the jury for the Pritzker Architecture Prize — which is known around the world as the profession’s highest honor.
The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international award established in 1979 by the Pritzker family through their Hyatt Foundation. It is often referred to as “the Nobel Prize of Architecture.” The purpose of the prize is to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of talent, vision, and commitment; and has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture.
Berke is joined by Barry Bergdoll, the Meyer Schapiro Professor of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University and former curator of the Department of Architecture and Design at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
“The jury is pleased indeed to add two new members, Deborah Berke and Barry Bergdoll,” says Stephen Breyer, chair of the Pritzker Prize jury. “Together they bring to the jury experience in architectural practice, education, and history. Their presence will help us keep abreast of both historical and contemporary challenges that architecture is facing. Their broad knowledge of the field and their experienced judgment will prove invaluable.”
Berke is a practicing international architect and educator. She is the recipient of a 2019 Medal of Honor from the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter and the 2017 Sackler Center First Award; was the inaugural recipient of the 2012 Berkeley-Rupp Prize at the University of California-Berkley; and the recipient of a National Design Award from the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum.
“I am honored to serve on the jury as we celebrate the finest and most humane architecture from around the world. I believe the prize can also help educate the public about what architecture can achieve, now and in the future,” says Berke.
Berke established Deborah Berke Partners in 1982 in New York City. The award-winning, 80-person firm makes true-to-place projects around the country and the world. Deborah Berke Partners has been recognized for works including Rockefeller Arts Center, State University of New York at Fredonia, New York; Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York; the Cummins Indy Distribution Headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana; Yale School of Art; and 21c Museum Hotels throughout the southern and midwestern United States. The firm’s current projects include the new residential colleges at Princeton, the Lewis International Law Center at the Harvard Law School, and NXTHVN, an arts and community incubator in New Haven.
Berke is on the board of directors of Venetian Heritage and Yaddo; is a board member of the James Howell Foundation and an honorary trustee of the Norman Foster Foundation; and is a member of the Dean’s Council at YSoA. She was a founder and vice president of DesignNYC, a founding trustee of the Design Trust for Public Space, a trustee of the National Building Museum, chair of the board of advisors of the Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture at Columbia University, trustee of the Brearley School, and vice president of the American Institute of Architects, New York Chapter. Berke has been a professor at Yale since 1987 and is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and The City University of New York.
Berke and Bergdoll join Stephen Breyer, jury chair and U.S. Supreme Court Justice; André Corrêa do Lago, architectural critic, curator, and Brazilian Ambassador to India, Delhi, India; Kazuyo Sejima, architect, educator and 2010 Pritzker Laureate, Tokyo, Japan; Benedetta Tagliabue, architect and director of EMBT Miralles Tagliabue, Barcelona, Spain; 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 2019 Pritzker Prize was most recently awarded to Arata Isozaki of Japan. The 2020 edition of the Pritzker Prize, which will mark the 42nd anniversary of the accolade, will be announced next spring.
Media Contact
Bess Connolly : elizabeth.connolly@yale.edu,