Architect · United Kingdom · born 1953
David Chipperfield Biography, Buildings and Best Books
British architect (born 1953) whose restrained, timeless buildings of solid materials, from the restored Neues Museum in Berlin to the James Simon Galerie, earned him the 2023 Pritzker Prize.
Photo: Bruno Cordioli, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Biography
David Chipperfield (born 1953) is a British architect known for a restrained, timeless architecture of solid materials and precise proportions. His practice, David Chipperfield Architects, has built museums, galleries and civic buildings across Europe, Asia and the Americas, and he received the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2023.
Training and Early Career
Born in London, Chipperfield studied at Kingston School of Art and the Architectural Association, graduating in 1980, and worked in the offices of Douglas Stephen, Richard Rogers and Norman Foster before founding his own practice in 1985. Early commissions in Japan, including shops for Issey Miyake, helped launch his career.
The Neues Museum
His long engagement with Berlin culminated in the restoration of the Neues Museum (1997-2009), where he repaired the war-damaged building by completing rather than imitating it, a widely admired model for working with historic fabric. On Museum Island he also designed the James Simon Galerie, and he later refurbished Mies van der Rohe’s Neue Nationalgalerie.
Museums and Civic Buildings
Other works include the River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, the Museum of Modern Literature in Marbach, winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize in 2007, the Museum Folkwang in Essen, Turner Contemporary and the Hepworth Wakefield in England, and the Museo Jumex in Mexico City.
Recognition
Chipperfield received the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 2011, directed the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale under the theme Common Ground, and was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2023. Through his foundation in Galicia, Spain, he promotes the sustainable development of the region’s landscape and towns.
David Chipperfield Architects
The practice’s most comprehensive monograph to date, edited by Rik Nys, documents four decades of David Chipperfield Architects across 664 pages of projects, drawings and photographs.
View on Amazon
Timeline
- 1953Born on 18 December in London.
- 1980Graduates from the Architectural Association in London.
- 1985Founds David Chipperfield Architects in London.
- 1997Completes the River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames and wins the competition for the Neues Museum in Berlin.
- 2006Completes the Museum of Modern Literature in Marbach, which wins the RIBA Stirling Prize the following year.
- 2009The restored Neues Museum reopens in Berlin.
- 2010Is knighted and completes the Museum Folkwang in Essen.
- 2011Receives the RIBA Royal Gold Medal; Turner Contemporary and the Hepworth Wakefield open.
- 2012Directs the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale, Common Ground.
- 2013Completes the Museo Jumex in Mexico City.
- 2019The James Simon Galerie opens on Berlin’s Museum Island.
- 2021The refurbished Neue Nationalgalerie reopens in Berlin.
- 2023Receives the Pritzker Architecture Prize.
Best Books on David Chipperfield
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is David Chipperfield known for?
David Chipperfield is known for restrained, timeless buildings of solid materials and careful proportions, and above all for the restoration of the Neues Museum in Berlin. He received the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2023.
What are David Chipperfield’s most famous buildings?
His most celebrated works include the River and Rowing Museum (1997), the Museum of Modern Literature in Marbach (2006), the Neues Museum in Berlin (2009), the Hepworth Wakefield (2011), the Museo Jumex (2013), the James Simon Galerie (2019) and the refurbishment of the Neue Nationalgalerie (2021).
What is the best book about David Chipperfield?
For a complete overview we recommend David Chipperfield Architects, the practice’s comprehensive monograph published by Walther König. For recent work, choose the El Croquis issue on David Chipperfield 2015-2023.
What architectural style is David Chipperfield?
Chipperfield is associated with a calm, minimalist modernism that values permanence, materiality and continuity with history over spectacle.
Where can you visit David Chipperfield’s buildings?
The Neues Museum, James Simon Galerie and Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, the Museum Folkwang in Essen, Turner Contemporary in Margate, the Hepworth Wakefield and the Museo Jumex in Mexico City are all open to the public.
