| Pritzker Winners Dec 18th 2011, 11:00 The acclaimed Portugese architect Ãlvaro Siza Vieira won fame for his sensitivity to context and a fresh approach to modernism. 
Vanna Venturi House / Pritzker Prize Photo American architect Robert Venturi designs buildings steeped in popular symbolism. Mocking the austerity of modernist architecture, Venturi is famous for saying, "Less is a bore." Many critics say that Venturi's Pritzker Prize should have been shared with his business partner and wife, Denise Scott Brown. The Italian architect, product designer, artist, and theorist Aldo Rossi was a founder of the Neo-Rationalist movement. 
Walt Disney Concert Hall, California. © David McNew/Getty ImagesInventive and irreverant, Canadian-born architect Frank Gehry has been surrounded by controversy for most of his career. 
Niemeyer Museum of Contemporary Arts, Brazil © Celso Pupo Rodrigues/iStockPhoto Prize shared with Gordon Bunshaft, USA From his early work with Le Corbusier to his beautifully sculptural buildings for Brazil's new capital city, Oscar Niemeyer shaped the Brazil we see today. Prize shared with Oscar Niemeyer, Brazil Trained in the International Style, Gordon Bunshaft became famous for his minimalist buildings. Japanese architect Kenzo Tange was known for bringing a modernist approach to traditional Japanese styles. German architect Gottfried Böhm aspires to find connections between architectural ideas, desiging buildings that inÂteÂgraÂte the old and the new. Based in Vienna, Austria, Hans Hollein became known for postmodernist building and furniture designs. A common theme runs through Richard Meier's striking, white designs. The sleek porcelain-enameled cladding and stark glass forms have been described as "purist," "sculptural," and "Neo-Corbusian."  | |
