Glenn Murcutt

Glenn Murcutt is a modernist, naturalist, ecologist, humanist, economist and environmentalist who encompasses all these distinguished qualities in his practice as a dedicated architect working from concept to realisation of his projects in his native Australia. Although his work has sometimes been described as a synthesis of Mies van der Rohe and the Australian native wool shed, his many satisfied clients and the dozens more queuing for his services attest that his houses are unique and satisfying solutions. He generally avoids large projects that would require him to expand his studio and forgo the personal attention to detail that he is now able to devote to each and every project. His architecture responds to the landscape and climate. His houses are well adapted to the terrain and climate.

He uses a variety of materials, from metal to wood, glass, stone, brick and concrete, always selected with the amount of energy required to produce them in mind. He uses light, water, wind, sun, moon to determine the details of how a house will function, how it will respond to its environment. Their structures are said to float above the landscape, or in the words of the Western Australian Aborigines he likes to quote, "they touch the earth lightly". Glenn Murcutt's structures increase in importance at every stage of the research. One of Murcutt's favourite quotes from Henry David Thoreau, who was also one of his father's favourites, "Since most of us spend our lives doing ordinary tasks, the most important thing is to do them extraordinarily well". With the award of the 2002 Pritzker Architecture Prize, the jury considers Glenn Murcutt to be more than worthy of the accolade.