Arata Isozaki wins Pritzker for designs blending East, West Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, credited with innovatively blending East and West, has been awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize

TOKYO -- Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, credited with innovatively blending East and West, has been awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

The 2019 prize was announced Tuesday by the jury of the Hyatt Foundation. Isozaki is the ninth Japanese to win the honor that's considered the highest in the field.

Isozaki's first international commission was the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. He worked on museums and other buildings throughout Japan, as well as the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona for the 1992 Olympics, the Shenzen Cultural Center in China and the Allianz Tower in Milan, Italy.

Isozaki says the ruins of post-World War II Japan influenced his work. "My first experience of architecture was the void of architecture, and I began to consider how people might rebuild their homes and cities."