Moshe Safdie has been named the laureate for the 2019 Wolf Prize for Architecture. The award recognizes a winner in either painting, music, sculpture, or architecture. As one of Israel’s most prestigious international awards, the prize is bestowed upon luminaries for their accomplishments in advancing science and art for the benefit of humanity. The jury cited Safdie’s exemplary career motivated by the social concerns of architecture and his formal experimentation.
Safdie received the award in recognition of his breakthrough project, Habitat ’67, as well as his global impact through distinguished projects around the world. The Israel-based prize also cited his most notable projects in the country, including the Yad Vashem Museum, Ben Gurion International Airport, the city of Modi’in, the Yitzhak Rabin Center in Tel Aviv, and the Mamilla Complex in Jerusalem. Recent winners for architecture include Phyllis Lambert, Eduardo Souto de Moura, David Chipperfield, and Peter Eisenman.
The Wolf Prize announcement begins a landmark year for Safdie Architects, with more than 8 major openings around the world in 2019 including Jewel Changi Airport (Singapore), Raffles City Chongqing, Serena del Mar (Cartagena, Colombia), and the rooftop garden and renovation of the Vancouver Public Library. Alongside Moshe Safdie, 2019 prizes were awarded to leaders in the fields of medicine, agriculture, chemistry, and mathematics.
The five prizes will be formally presented to the laureates by Israel's President and the Wolf Foundation chairman and Minister of Education at the end of May in an official ceremony at the Knesset Building in Jerusalem.
