The Japanese architect has completed over 100 projects around the world

Photo courtesy of Pritzker Architecture Prize
Arata Isozaki.

This year?s Pritzker Prize, considered architecture?s highest honor, has been awarded to 87-year-old Japanese architect, planner, and theorist Arata Isozaki. Credited as a connector between the East and the West, Isozaki has completed over 100 projects throughout Asia, Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Australia in a span of over six decades.
Born in 1931 in ?ita, Japan, Isozaki began his career in an era of rebuilding for his country following the devastating events of World War II. While he built quite a few works in Japan early on (?ita Medical Hall, 1960, and ?ita Prefectural Library, 1966, are two hometown examples), Isozaki has always been globally-minded and is one of the first Japanese architects to build abroad. ?I wanted to see the world through my own eyes, so I traveled around the globe at least ten times before I turned thirty,? the architect has said.
Photo courtesy of Yasuhiro Ishimoto and the Pritzker Architecture Prize
The ?ita Prefectural Library, now ?ita Art Plaza, was Isozaki?s second large commission from his hometown in ?ita, Japan.

Some of Isozaki?s best-known buildings around the world include the Museum of Contemporary Art (1986) in Los Angeles, the Sant Jordi Stadium (1990) for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, the Team Disney building (1991) in ...