Aldo Rossi

Architecture is a profession in which talent matures slowly. It is a discipline that requires many years of thoughtful observation, of testing principles, of feeling the space and experiencing the many states of mind necessary to mature and nurture. Architectural geniuses are extremely rare.

The skill set that enables an architect to work with a sure hand and achieve the desired result admits no shortcuts. An architect who wants to do his or her best must undertake a lifelong apprenticeship, far beyond that required to obtain an official licence. He must know human behaviour, understand structures and materials, and know how to model forms and spaces so that they serve their intended purpose in an inspired and original way.

The jury of the Pritzker Architecture Prize has found these qualities and many more in Aldo Rossi, and has chosen him as the 1990 winner.

Known for many years as a theorist, philosopher, artist and teacher, Rossi has spent time developing his architectural voice and quill. Words as well as drawings and buildings have distinguished him as one of the great architects. As a master draughtsman, steeped in the tradition of Italian art and architecture, Rossi's sketches and renderings of buildings have often achieved international recognition long before they are built.

His book "The Architecture of the City", published in 1966, is a text of great significance in the study of urban design and thinking. From this theoretical basis emerged designs that always appear to be part of the urban fabric, rather than an intrusion.

Each of Rossi's designs, whether it is an office complex, a hotel, a cemetery, a floating theatre, an exquisite coffee maker or even toys, captures the essence of purpose.

Rossi has been able to follow the lessons of classical architecture without copying them; his buildings have echoes of the past in the use of forms that have a universal and disturbing quality. His work is at once bold and ordinary, original without being novel, refreshingly simple in appearance but extremely complex in content and meaning. In an era of diverse styles and influences, Aldo Rossi has eschewed the popular and fashionable to create an architecture all his own.

Building on a solid theoretical foundation, he uses his talent and skill to solve design problems in memorable and imaginative ways. His influence is extensive and expands with each new commission. With this honour, Aldo Rossi joins a dozen architects already noted for their contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture.