The
Pritzker Architecture Prize is awarded annually "to honor a living
architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture." Founded in 1979 by
Jay A. Pritzker and his wife Cindy, the award is funded by the
Pritzker family and sponsored by the
Hyatt Foundation and is considered to be one of the world's premier
architecture prizes; it is often referred to as the
Nobel Prize of architecture. The most recent winner, in 2016, is the Chilean architect
Alejandro Aravena.