THE JEAN TSCHUMI PRIZE FOR ARCHITECTURAL WRITING & CRITIQUE

Named after former UIA President and member of the Modern Movement Jean Tschumi, the Jean Tschumi Prize recognises excellence in architectural criticism and writing since it was first awarded in 1967.

Jean André Tschumi was born on February 14, 1904, in Geneva, Switzerland. Shortly before finishing primary school in April 1918, Tschumi signed up for professional training at the Société Industrielle de Lausanne and began an apprenticeship as a draughtsman in the office of Charles Braun. He then studied at the Paris School of Fine Arts under Emmanuel Pontremoli. 

After World War II, Tschumi designed the Sandoz laboratories in Orléans and in Noisy-le-Sec, France. Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne and member of the Modern Movement, he was known for his buildings for Sandoz, Nestlé and la Mutuelle Vaudoise, as well as for his contribution to architectural theory and education. After his death in 1962, several buildings were concluded posthumously: the general headquarters of Sandoz in Rueil-Malmaison, were completed in 1968 by Bernard Zehrfuss and the Swiss architect Martin Burckhardt.

Winners of the Prize (1967 – 2023)   

1967 – J.P. Vouga (Switzerland)
1969 – Ex-aequo: I. Nikolaev (USSR) & P. Ramirez Vazquez (Mexico)
1972 – J.B. Vilanova Artigas (Brazil)
1975 – R. Banham (UK)
1978 – Rector of the University of Lima (Peru) Neville Quarry (Australia); Honourable Mentions: Jorge Glusberg (Argentine) & Tadeusz Barucki (Poland)
1984 – Julius Posener (RFA)
1987 – Ex-aequo: C. Norberg-Schultz (Norway) & A. L. Huxtable (USA)
1990 – Eduard Franz Sekler (Austria) & Eric Kumchew Lye (Malaysia); Honourable Mentions: Dennis Sharp (UK) & Claude Parent (France)
1993 – Eric Kumchew Lye (Malaysia)
1996 – Ex-aequo: Peter Cook (UK) & Liangyong Wu (China); Honourable Mentions: Toshio Nakamura (Japan) & COMEX (Mexico)
1999 – Juhani Pallasmaa (Finland); Honourable Mention: Jennifer Taylor (Australia)
2002 – Teaching: Manuel Tainha (Portugal) & Criticism: Elias Zenghelis (Greece); Honourable Mention: World Architecture: A Critical Mosaic (China)
2005 – Ex-aequo: Peter Davey (UK) & QUADERNS d’arquitectura i urbanisme (Espagne); Honourable Mention: Selim Khan-Magomedov (Russia)
2008 – Ex-aequo: Luca Molinari (Italy) & Escola Sert – COAC (Spain)
2011 – Ex-aequo: Kenneth Frampton (UK) & Louise Noelle Gras (Mexico); Honourable mentions: Andy MacMillan & Isi Metzstein (UK)
2014 – Joseph Rykwert (UK)
2017 – Ashraf Salama (Egypt)
2021 – Doğan Kuban (Turkey)
2023 – Ex-aequo: Anne Beim (Denmark) & Vladimír Šlapeta (Czech Republic)