Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara of Grafton Architects win the ​2020 Pritzker Prize​

Widely regarded as architecture's highest recognition, the 2020 Pritzker Prize has been awarded to Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara of Dublin-based practice Grafton Architects. 

"Architecture could be described as one of the most complex and important cultural activities on the planet," Farrell noted upon learning about the selection. "To be an architect is an enormous privilege. To win this prize is a wonderful endorsement of our belief in architecture. Thank you for this great honor."

McNamara added: "Within the ethos of a practice such as ours, we have so often struggled to find space for the implementation of such values as humanism, craft, generosity, and cultural connection with each place and context within which we work. It is therefore extremely gratifying that this recognition is bestowed upon us and our practice and upon the body of work we have managed to produce over a long number of years."

In their announcement, this year's jury noted: "For their integrity in their approach to both their buildings, as well as the way they conduct their practice, their belief in collaboration, their generosity towards their colleagues, especially as evidenced in such events as the 2018 Venice Biennale, their unceasing commitment to excellence in architecture, their responsible attitude toward the environment, their ability to be cosmopolitan while embracing the uniqueness of each place in which they work, for all these reasons and more, Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara are awarded the 2020 Pritzker Architecture Prize."

Farrell and McNamara are the 47th laureates of this prestigious honor and follow the most recent prize winners Arata Isozaki from Japan (2019), India's Balkrishna Doshi (2018), and Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem, and Ramon Vilalta of Spain-based RCR Arquitectes (2017).