The Pritzker Architecture Prize, in partnership with the National Technical University of Athens, presents The Role of Practice, on Tuesday, May 23rd at 3:40PM EEST, with the participation of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University of Patras and Technical University of Crete.

Sir David Alan Chipperfield CH, 2023 Laureate, reflects on the role, responsibilities and opportunities of architectural practice. He considers how architecture has been dominated by market forces and become increasingly detached from its place, just as the challenges of climate crisis, loss of biodiversity and social inequality have heightened the urgency for a more proactive position.

“We see architecture as a result, the physical object, and we try to measure architecture by this result. But our concerns cannot only be focused on what we build. We must look at the way we build, how we build, who we build for, and where we build. It is only by going beyond the prescribed responsibilities of architectural practice, by questioning the limits within which architecture operates, that we can properly respond to the existential issues that confront us,” elaborates Chipperfield.

Alejandro Aravena, Jury Chair and 2016 Laureate, introduces the architect, who also presents an overview of the work of David Chipperfield Architects, with a focus on common concerns and attitudes towards process and purpose. Additionally, drawing from experiences with Fundación RIA, his non-profit think tank in Galicia, Spain, Chipperfield will call for architects to evolve new ways of practice that advance the common good.

A conversation between Chipperfield, Francis Kéré, 2022 Laureate, and Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal, 2021 Laureates, follows, as they each reveal the successes and failures of their respective journeys that effected their architectural philosophies and works, and led them to the shared stage of the present.

“On the surface, my architecture may seem to people very different from that of my peers in the field,” comments Kéré. “But I think we have more in common than we have differences: an effort to build things that last and have an impact, a design language that is distinct but can adapt to users, a love for architecture and its potential.” The event is available at bit.ly/2023-laureate-lecture.