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bolide-archive · 3 months

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flight feathers

Teen & Up Audiences | No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen, other | Fandom: Haikyuu!!

Relationships: Kageyama Miwa & Kageyama Tobio, Kageyama Kazuyo & Kageyama Tobio

Word Count: 1,694

Senior high was a three-year bright spot between the loss and learning, nineteen and boarding a direct flight to Rio, that there is more than one type of grief.

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Kageyama Tobio considers quitting volleyball only once in his life, a year after his grandfather passes suddenly and unexpectedly. Less than a week after he tosses the ball—a perfect toss for C-quick, just as he’d practiced for an hour the night before—and it falls, untouched, onto the court where it completes its arc. He thinks about it, seriously quitting, for less than 24 hours. He still thinks about it, but not seriously.

Coach benches him without another word about it. He watches the rest of the meet from the bench. And feels nothing. There’s nothing left to feel when he realizes he doesn’t want to be on the court. Not after watching the ball fall. Abandoned again. First Miwa, now grandfather. If this time, it was his fault, which means the others may have been his fault as well, right?

Miwa seemed very free after quitting. She started doing other things. She tied her long hair up in pretty, intricate styles, and never looked at a volleyball again.

That’s how it works. On the bench he doesn’t cry but something in him releases. Everything feels very much over, in the moment. The king is gone, off the court.

I miss them. I’m tired. I want to play. I don’t want to play.

The sets pass, until they lose in the third round in a blur of nothing. The swell he’d always felt from the court, the energy of the stadium, putters out. No sting of loss. No rush of victory. No twisting frustration. No images, instant replay, of all the things to practice for next time. None of it. Just the ball rolling towards the far wall and twelve players walking away from the net.

He was going to win the tournament for his grandfather. He was going to win for him and for volleyball and now he’s on the bench. He’d told him, the only time they’d let him visit the hospital, that he was going to win for him. Look, you made me strong. I love volleyball more than them.

He doesn’t quit. Turns out, it’s not that easy.

Too bad he can’t keep his hands off a volleyball—a well-worn plain white ball from camp—at home, even if he doesn’t want to stand on the court like that ever again. He sets it at the ceiling, lying on his back, before he sleeps. He continues his receiving drills against the wall of the house until his mother’s car pulls into the driveway.

Monday is the day that Miwa calls. From Tokyo. A reminder that she’s still out that. They she’ll talk to him, but only for ten minutes a week. Straight out of senior high and she’s off to the big city with a pat on the head and a promise to call and to message. She’d gone to work as a hairdresser and go to beauty school. She was back for the funeral with a new haircut and a second piercing in her left ear.

She calls the Monday after Kitagawa Daiichi loses to Kousen. Instantly, he realizes she’s calling him from inside a gymnasium. He hears it, balls bunching and shoes squeaking, before she says anything. And she says something before he can say, “hello”.

“I joined the local municipal intramural team, so you better keep playing, quitter.”

Mom must have told her he’d stopped attending practice after the prefectural junior athletics meet. He wants to ask her why she quit in the first place. Why she went back, now, of all times. But he doesn’t want to talk about Kazuyo. And it’s probably about him. Her picking up the ball again and him getting kicked off the court are both about him.

“Do they make you cut your hair?” He asks instead.

“No, of course not. They’re not stupid high school students,” Miwa says. There’s a referee’s whistle in the background. It makes him cringe, the way it filters through the phone speaker.

“Oh.”

“The team is actually co-ed.”

“What’s co-ed?”

“Like, men and women. I’m setting to guys.”

“But you’re super short. You were a libero.”

“I’m a better setter than the other guy, so I’m setting for now.”

“Oh.”

His sister was a good setter. But she’d played all positions. Libero, in her final year of junior high when she didn’t grow. She’d been one of the best liberos in the prefecture, despite only switching in the middle of her second year. Her stats almost matched with Shiratorizawa Junior High’s starting setter, who plays for the national team now, she’d told him once.

“I’ll be there for your graduation, so don’t flunk out. I already have my train ticket.”

“Okay.”

And that’s that.

Miwa starts sending him videos of her practices. All of her games are practices. It’s all for fun. She looks like she’s having fun. Her long hair is tied up in a high ponytail. Instead of the typical girl’s volleyball uniform, she’s wearing long shorts like a basketball player and a sleeveless T-shirt. Her arms look stronger than he remembers them.

[ Why aren’t you wearing kneepads. ]

Sis

[ I haven’t bought any yet. ]

[ You’re going to hurt your knees. ]

Sis

[ It’s nice to know that my little brother is looking out for my knees. ]

Kageyama goes to the last mandatory practice of the year. He tries (and fails) to ignore the looks he gets from everyone on the team. Hashikami doesn’t say a single word to him. Kindaichi and Kunimi whisper to each other in the locker room.

“Look who finally showed up, king.”

He slams his locker door shut. It rattles in its hinges.

Practice is less intense than during the year. They have no matches to prepare for. Only to keep up their skills going into senior high.

And everyone’s chattering about senior high. Kageyama can hear it from where he’s standing for warm up, at least a meter away from the closest players—two first years he’d helped learn to serve-recieve, and who’d given him looks of pity when he’s been kicked off the court.

“I heard the king didn’t get into Shiratorizawa. Didn’t pass the entrance exams.”

“Serves him right. Did he think they’d just let him in for being a genius setter? I guess even they don’t want him on their team...”

“Ya think he’ll go to Seijoh?”

Kageyama does nothing but jump serve practice during open gym. He can tell he’s being watched by coach. He doesn’t ask. He has a ball and a net and nobody’s trying to speak to him. Good enough.

“Kageyama-kun!” Coach yells his name after blowing the whistle to end practice. He watches the ball he spiked land in the far corner of the court, just inside the line. Direct hit.

While he jogs over to where coach is sitting, dread kills the excitement from his pinpoint serve.

“Yes, sir?”

“I hear your teammates are considering where to attend senior high school. If you do not wish to go to Seijoh, I believe that coach Ukai may be returning to coach the Karasuno boy’s volleyball team. I believe he will have sound advice with regards to how you might succeed in the future, there.”

Kageyama had expected scolding or punishment of some kind. Coach had said nothing about his problems with his teammates until they had all made up their minds. He had nothing to say to him on the bench. But now he’s telling him to go to a school he’s never heard of.

“Ukai” sounds a little familiar.

He looks up Karasuno High School when he gets home. He knows he won’t pass the entrance exams for Date Tech, and Johzenji is too far away. Karasuno, “the fallen crows,” he reads.

Karasuno has no entrance examinations. Karasuno isn’t a private school, but it has two volleyball gyms. The school is located closer than any other besides Aoba Johsai. He tests into class 3 on a lonely Saturday morning, the answers to the singular Shiratorizawa entrance exam appearing in his mind at the wrong time. He doesn’t care what class he gets.

Kageyama doesn’t go to Karasuno because he’s looking for any advice. He’s all caught up in Kazuyo’s advice. His grandfather’s advice made him an effective volleyball player.

He wants a good volleyball coach who will let him play.

He goes to Karasuno because he finds a photograph of his grandfather, number 2, next to Ukai’s number 3 at Shiratorizawa’s volleyball hall of fame. They make him go back to pick up his failed entrance exam and he sees it. A hall with every framed photograph of past nationals-competitive teams.

Shiratorizawa Boy’s VB — Spring 1965, Nationals Top 8.

It takes him many years to realize it was the best decision of his life.

He doesn’t know what would have happened if he had gone to Aoba Johsai. Or, by some miracle, had gotten into Shiratorizawa.

Never one to believe in anything besides what he could do for himself, he never bothered to create a mythology around finding the photograph. Nor about his junior high coach taking pity.

Every sports writer writes about him as though he was destined to succeed. Miwa sends him articles when he makes the national team. “Diamond in the crow’s nest”, “genius setter,” “youngest men’s volleyball Olympic team member since 1994.”

She follows it all up with a pleasant:

Sis

[ Don’t get a big head. And block out all the news sites and armchair bloggers right now. ]

She would know. She’s dating a supermodel. “The press are vultures in every industry, brother mine.”

Senior high was a three-year bright spot between the loss and learning, nineteen and boarding a direct flight to Rio, that there is more than one type of grief.

For those years after, he keeps his head down and plays.

And his grandfather’s words find their way back to him, again. Punctuation but not an ending to the career he knows, for himself, wasn’t predestined.

“One day, you’ll find someone even stronger.”

If every victory was for you, just a little bit, to make up a broken promise in a sterile white room, this loss is for me, grandfather.

#kageyama tobio #hq #kageyama miwa #Kageyama Tobio character study time #haikyuu!!#hq fanfic #the & means platonic/familial #hq ch378 spoilers (light)

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lys-9-10 · 6 months

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Ch. 5 of "Connection"

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It becomes a bit of a pattern.

In the morning, Hinata runs up to him in the hallway and starts blabbering about one thing or another.

At lunch, Hinata comes to fetch Tobio and bring him to the Lindy Hop table (Tobio still makes a show of trying to eat on his own).

After school, they have their lesson.

And then they walk home. Together.

It’s a little weird.

And often annoying.

But occasionally … well, occasionally, Tobio maybe doesn’t hate it.

“Let’s play Lightning Words,” Hinata says today, as he skips down the road with his usual energy. “Lightning Words?” “Yeah! It’s like when I say a word and you say the first word that word makes you think of. But you have to do it super fast, like lightning. No thinking allowed!” Tobio grimaces. “I don’t like words,” he admits, and for some reason that makes Hinata throw back his head and burst into a delighted peal of laughter. “I’ll go first,” Hinata offers, once his chortled have died down. “Gimme a word.” “Um...”

“Kageyama.” “What?” “Kageyama. The word ‘um’ made me think of the word ‘Kageyama.’ Cuz you say it alot. Yachi says it a lot too but she’s more like, ‘Um!’ ” He imitates Yachi’s terrified squeak. “Ok gimme another one.” ... Well this is dumb. But Hinata looks so freaking happy that, for some reason, Kageyama can’t find it within himself to refuse him. He makes a show of sighing, then looks around himself for inspiration.

“Cloud.”

“Sun.”

… Of course he would.

“Car.”

“ZOOOOOM!” Hinata whips around in a pirouette as he makes the noise. Tobio squints at him, remarking that his pirouettes have actually gotten significantly better. A strange sense of satisfaction stretches through Tobio’s chest.

He coughs and says, “That’s not a real word.”

Hinata flashes a grin. “Well good!! Cuz you don’t like words!”

Tobio lets out a huffing sound. It’s a huff of exasperation—definitely not a laugh.

“Okay your turn now. You ready?”

Tobio grunts.

“Lindy Hop!” Hinata says.

Kazuyo…

“Lindy Bout,” Tobio says, firmly.

“Lindy Bout!” Hinata repeats.

Tobio wrinkles his nose. “Is that allowed?”

“Yuppers! Lindy Bout!”

“Win.”

Hinata rolls his eyes dramatically. “Man, you’re boring. What you got for the word predictable ?”

Tobio cuts him an unimpressed glance. Hinata giggles and … punches him in the arm?

“Woodpecker!” Hinata says.

Tobio doesn’t respond, occupied with staring stupidly at his own arm.

“Yooo, Kageyama. Woodpecker!” Hinata flaps his hand, indicating a woodpecker hammering on someone’s metal chimney.

Tobio blinks and gives his head a little shake. “Oh, uh. Annoying.”

Hinata tuts disapprovingly. “Ruuude.” He looks around for more inspiration, eyes settling on the road. Specifically, the white arrow painted in the left turning lane. “Left!” he chirps.

“Miwa.”

Hinata stops teetering along the curb and turns to look at him. “Miwa?”

Tobio blanches. “Uh. I mean, turn.”

“Who’s Miwa?”

“She’s—no one. My sister.”

Hinata’s jaw drops. “You have a sister?! What the heck, Kageyama!! How come I don’t know about her! Are we even friends??”

Tobio blinks.

… Are they?

… They’re not, right?

“What’s she like?” Hinata asks, with interest.

Tobio frowns. “What do you mean?”

“What’s she like? Is she cool? Is she annoying? Do you guys get along?”

“She’s…” Bitterness starts to rise in his throat and he swallows it back. “She’s not that great.”

“Aw. How come?”

Tobio shrugs. He tries to make the gesture casual. “She doesn’t really care.”

“What do you mean? Like she doesn’t care about you?”

Tobio hesitates. “… No. No, she does.”

“Then what doesn’t she care about?”

Tobio grunts, forcing another shrug. “Dunno. Other stuff. Other... people...”

“Is she mean to people?”

Tobio frowns. “No.”

“Then wh”—

“Give me another word, dumbass.”

Hinata pauses, mouth half open. Recollection crosses his face. “Hey, how come the word ‘left’ made you think of her?”

Tobio flinches.

Because she is. Left. She’s the only one left. Even if sometimes he wishes she wasn’t. Even if sometimes he hates the sight of her…

“I don’t know,” Tobio says.

Tobio really, really doesn’t like words.

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#kagehina #shobio #kghn #miwa kageyama #kageyama kazuyo #tobio kageyama #shoyo hinata #haikyuu!!#hq

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pearlsephoni · 1 year

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At the End of the Sun, Chapter 2

Can also be read on AO3!

Rating: This Chapter: T; Whole Work: E

Fandom: Haikyuu!!

Pairing: Kagehina (Kageyama/Hinata)

Characters: Shoyo Hinata, Tobio Kageyama, Natsu Hinata, Mama Hinata, Ittetsu Takeda, brief cameos from Kazuyo Kageyama

Word Count: 5.4k

Summary: In the light of Natsu’s illness, Shoyo is presented a way to give her the impossible cure.

A/N: Written for the @kagehinabigbang! Further author’s notes can be read on AO3.

Shoyo had seen some incredible things in his life. None of them were a talking wolf. Certainly not a talking wolf offering to help him save his sister. “How do you…how are you talking? What are you talking about? How do you know about the…the plant, the…any of this?”

The wolf’s ears flicked, drawing Shoyo’s attention to the fur beginning to rise along his neck. He wasn’t very familiar with wolf behavior, but it didn’t take much to guess that he was a little annoyed. “I…I heard you and your mother speaking outside. She said something about the yamakumo flower and the risk of gathering it. But the risk only exists for humans. A wolf…I could retrieve it for you.”

“But…why?” Shoyo’s hold on the bow and arrow weakened, letting the point of the arrow drift towards the ground. “Why would you do that for us?”

“Because you can give me something in return.”

His fingers tightened around the bow, but he kept it aimed down. “What could I give a talking wolf?”

“Company.” The wolf drew himself up, looking somehow regal as he met Shoyo’s gaze. “The mountains are a ways away. If you want to be able to prepare the plants for your sister, you’ll have to come live with me, prepare them there, then get them home.”

Uneasiness prickled through Shoyo. “For…for how long?”

“A year.”

“A year?!” he repeated. “The flowers only bloom in the winter, why would I need to be there for a year?”

“It’s not just for the plants. It’s…I’ll need the company for a year. That’s all I can tell you.”

It was ridiculous. It didn’t make sense. He still didn’t know why this wolf was able to speak. And yet… “So…if I come and live with you for a year, you’ll be able to harvest enough of the yamakumo to…to save my sister?”

“Your sister?”

“Yeah…she’s the one who needs it.”

“I…I see.” The wolf’s paws shifted in the soil. “Yes, I’ll harvest as much as you need, in exchange for a year.”

Shoyo’s throat clicked around his swallow as he nodded. “Okay…good. Then…I need to let my mother know.” He looked back the way he came, before whirling back towards the wolf. “You need to come with me.”

The wolf blinked. “...What? Why?”

“I can’t go home and tell my family that I’ll be gone for a year to live with a wolf who spoke and told me he’d get the flower. You need to come as…I dunno, as proof or something.”

“Oh. Right.” The wolf looked down at himself, almost as though he were remembering what he was. “Alright. Lead the way.”

Shoyo’s uneasiness around the wolf persisted as he slung his bow across his body and prepared the deer to be brought home. Even though his training demanded that he not hold a bow with a strung arrow outside of active combat or hunting, Shoyo still itched to hold some sort of weapon in his hands. But instead, he was stuck hauling the deer across his shoulders, keeping his hands completely occupied.

It felt surreal, to be leading a wolf back to his home, especially one so large and dark and similar to the creature that haunted his dreams. Really, the past five minutes–had it truly only been five minutes?–didn’t feel real. A talking wolf materialized in front of him, offered a way to save Natsu, and demanded Shoyo live with him for a year in return.

A year to save his sister. A whole year of his life, spent away from home and the palace and his work. Then again…what was one year in exchange for Natsu’s life?

“Shoyo?” His mother’s voice snapped him out of his musings, and he looked up to see her gaping at him from the porch. “Oh my goodness, will you look at that! Where on earth did you–?”

Her words choked off as her eyes drifted away from the deer Shoyo was slowly lowering to the ground. “Shoyo,” she breathed, eyes wide with alarm, “don’t move. There’s a wolf right behind you, oh spirits.”

“I…I know. You don’t have to worry.” It wasn’t until her eyes snapped back to stare at him in disbelief that he realized that he…did not have a plan. His mother suffered no fools, and the thought of telling her that he was planning on leaving for a year to live with a wolf who had offered to save Natsu…well, it sounded pretty foolish.

“What do you mean, you know? You knew you were leading a wolf to our home?!”

Then again, the alternative was worse.

“No! I mean, yes!”

“Which is it?!”

“Yes, I knew I was leading him here, but he’s not dangerous, I swear!” His mother’s disbelief was giving way to anger, and it only made Shoyo flounder more. “I– he– he’s going to help!”

“...What?”

“He’s telling the truth.”

The wolf’s words fell like a rock in the Hinatas’ yard. It took everything in Shoyo to hold back his grimace as he watched his mother’s eyes snap back and forth between him and the wolf. “Who…?”

“Your son’s telling the truth,” the wolf repeated, moving up to stand next to Shoyo and the deer. “I can help get the yamakumo flower for your daughter.”

“Shoyo.”

“...Yeah?”

“Who just said that?”

“The, uh…the wolf.”

“Ah.” His mother’s expression was impassive as she stepped down from the porch and weakly sat on its edge. “I…I was hoping I’d imagined that.”

“Yeah…I did, too.”

She could only nod for a moment, driven to silence as she visibly processed what she’d just seen and heard. And then, slowly and deliberately, she asked, “What do you mean, you can help get the flower?”

The wolf repeated what he had told Shoyo: that he could embark on the journey that would be life-threatening for Shoyo and harvest the flower that Natsu needed. Hope bloomed in Shoyo with the hope he saw widening his mother’s eyes.

Then the wolf mentioned needing something in return.

Shoyo watched with dread as his mother straightened in her seat, eyes flickering to him just long enough for him to see the foreboding settling in them. “What would that be?”

“A year,” Shoyo murmured, bringing her attention to rest on him. “I…I would have to live with him for a year.”

“No.”

“Mom–”

“Absolutely not.”

“Mom!”

“A year, Shoyo? Do you hear yourself? A year with a wolf? What on earth does he want a year with you for?”

“If he lives with me, he’ll be able to properly prepare the flowers before transporting them from the mountains to here,” the wolf spoke up. “And…well…I need the company. Never mind the reason.”

“I think I will mind the reason,” Shoyo’s mother bit out. “That’s my son you’re talking about. He has a family, a job, a whole life you are asking him to leave behind for an entire year. You want him to give up all of that without telling him why?”

“What does it matter?” Shoyo cried. “Can’t the ‘why’ be Natsu? If this is the only way we can get her that flower, then why shouldn’t I agree to the deal?”

She stared at him in silence, letting him watch emotions flicker like fireflies over her familiar features: disbelief, anger, understanding, grief, and finally, determination. It was with that emotion in her eyes that she finally looked back at the wolf. “Prove it.”

Both Shoyo and the wolf stared at her. “...I’m sorry?”

“Prove that you can get the yamakumo. Then I’ll know that you can uphold your side of the deal, and maybe, maybe I’ll let Shoyo go with you.”

Shoyo could count on one hand all of the times he’d seen his mother’s eyes harden and jaw tighten quite like that. An instinctive part of him felt nervous at the sight, but it didn’t stop him from protesting, “Mom, I can make my own choice! If this is the best way to help Natsu, then I want to do it!”

“Then you’re a greater fool than I thought,” she snapped. “Think of what he’s asking of you, Shoyo. He’s asking you to give up a year of your life for something we’re not even certain he can do. And it’s not just you. He’s asking me to give up my son, asking Natsu to give up her brother, asking the daimyo to give up one of his most promising samurai.” She turned her eyes back on the wolf, whose fur, Shoyo was surprised to see, had started raising. It immediately flattened under his mother’s glare. “Go get a yamakumo flower. Prove to us that it’s possible. Then, and only then, will we seriously consider your offer.”

When the wolf spoke, his voice sounded strained, and Shoyo wasn’t sure if he was trying to conceal the waver of fear or anger. “The yamakumo flower doesn’t bloom for months.”

“Then get us the plant. I’ll be able to identify it without the flower.”

Silence fell over the clearing, so heavy it was almost oppressive, as Shoyo’s mother and the wolf stared at each other. “Alright,” the wolf eventually conceded. “I’ll return in a week with the plant. Will we have a deal then?”

“We can discuss a deal then,” Shoyo’s mother corrected.

The wolf’s ears twitched, but he nodded. “...I can see why you became a warrior,” he said, looking at Shoyo. “It looks like ferocity runs in your family.”

A smile curved over Shoyo’s face despite the frustration still brewing in him. “Yeah…yeah, I know.”

Something made the wolf pause, dark eyes watching Shoyo for a beat, before he quietly ordered, “Be ready to leave in a week. I’ll see you then.”

His confidence and casual command startled Shoyo into simply nodding. Nothing else was said. The wolf nodded back, first to Shoyo, then to his mother, then turned and disappeared into the forest. Shoyo waited for the underbrush to return to still silence before he let out a low whistle. “Geez, Mom. Who knew you could make a wolf nervous?”

“Never mind that,” she huffed. “Who knew wolves could speak and try to steal away my son?”

“Mom.”

“Don’t ‘mom’ me.” She pinched at his nose, though she couldn’t quite match his warrior’s reflexes, and she ended up pinching at air when he managed to dodge her fingers. “I can’t believe you were so ready to just…give up a year of your life like that.”

Shoyo shrugged, stubbornly ignoring the warmth creeping across his cheeks. “I was just…I was desperate. It sounded like a better way to get the flower, instead of, uh…dying.”

His mother shook her head with a fond, exasperated smile. “My goodness, that brain of yours. Have you even thought about your work? What army would let one of their most promising soldiers disappear for a year?”

“I’m not going to disappear,” Shoyo huffed, pointedly ignoring her actual question. “I’ll go back with Takeda-sensei tomorrow and let Captain Ukai know. I can tell him that Natsu is sick and I need to help take care of her. It’s not really a lie.”

“Shoyo.”

“It’s not! I…I might have to speak to Kageyama-sama directly, though.” A slow shudder slid down his spine at the thought. He had only ever seen the daimyo in person a handful of times. The old man somehow struck a balance between having a kind demeanor and regal air about him. It made him one of the more-approachable daimyos in the country, but it also made it more difficult for Shoyo to guess what his response to his requested absence would be. “That might be my only chance to be allowed back after a year.”

The idea clearly unnerved his mother—her face paled and her eyes widened as he spoke. “Shoyo, you can’t even guarantee that you’ll get an audience with him.”

“No, but…I have to try.”

“Oh, my darling boy,” his mother sighed, cupping his face and making him meet her sad eyes. “Are you absolutely certain about this? It would kill Natsu, knowing you lost the work you love for her sake.”

“We don’t know that I will!” he tried to reassure her. “Maybe I won’t! Just…please don’t tell her anything about that, not until I know for sure?”

His mother gazed at him for a moment before sighing and nodding. “Alright. But the moment we know, you have to tell her. Promise me.”

“I promise.” The words came instantly, quick as an instinct.

“Good.” Her hands slid away from his cheeks as she heaved another sigh. “Well now…let’s get to work on this beauty.”

The reminder of the buck was a relief. Shoyo was only too ready to begin the familiar, arduous work of taking the body apart, but just as he began sharpening his carving knife, Takeda stumbled to the still-open shoji screens. “Takeda-chan?” Shoyo’s mother asked, her voice nearly cracking on her surprise and worry. “What’s going on?”

“I…I thought I heard…” His eyes looked borderline-crazed as they scanned the yard, until the craze was replaced by defeat. “Ah. I thought I heard a familiar voice. I must have been mistaken.”

Shoyo and his mother exchanged a shared look of alarm and confusion–had he heard the wolf? Did he recognize the wolf’s voice? How would they even begin to explain everything that had happened in the past hour? Then his mother slipped into a practiced smile as she joked, “Familiar voices? Do you mean ours?”

“No no, I, ah…well, never mind.” He straightened up as he adjusted his glasses, before shooting his own practiced smile at mother and son. “My, Shoyo-kun, that’s quite the kill!”

“Oh, thank you, sensei,” Shoyo said with a shy laugh.

“We’ll finish carving it and we’ll be right in,” his mother told Takeda, “unless you would like to help?”

“Oh! Um. Perhaps I could help with things…inside?”

Shoyo struggled to bite back a laugh as his mother smilingly asked Takeda if he wouldn’t mind sweeping the floors, please? She didn’t turn back to Shoyo until the other healer had closed the screens behind him.

“Tomorrow,” she murmured, smile sliding off her face. “We’ll tell him everything tomorrow. And when you come back in a week, we’ll tell Natsu everything as well, alright?” She phrased it as a question, but Shoyo knew better.

“Alright.”

For the rest of the evening, he could almost forget about the wolf and the strange, impossible deal he’d offered. He could pretend that this was just another visit home, helping his mother with familiar, difficult chores.

But when Shoyo finally crawled into his old futon and drifted to sleep, it was to visions of sharp teeth, black fur, and dark blue eyes.

—————————————————~☾~—————————————————

By this point in his life, at 21 years old with a few years of being a samurai under his belt, Shoyo knew that the first day of any endeavor was never the hardest day. But he really felt he could be forgiven for hoping the exception would be finding out his sister was struggling with a potentially-fatal illness.

Of course that wasn’t the case. The next morning, once Shoyo helped Natsu get settled back into her futon after breakfast, he attempted to explain the…situation to Takeda. His mother let him do the talking, either because she thought he ought to take responsibility for making a deal with a talking wolf or because she still didn’t fully understand everything. Shoyo couldn’t be sure, but he didn’t really blame her either way.

Strangely enough, while Takeda definitely looked stunned by the whole ordeal, he didn’t seem specifically surprised by the news of the wolf. If anything, he was more curious about the how of the speaking wolf moreso than the what. “If he was the voice I heard last night,” he murmured, staring hard at the table as he thought through everything, “then why did he sound so familiar? I really feel as though I’ve heard that voice before.”

“Well…regardless,” Shoyo’s mother gently piped up, “do you think you’ll be able to help Shoyo get a year off approved?”

“Ah! Yes! I mean…it will be difficult, and there’s only so much sway I have as the daimyo’s healer,” Takeda warned, “but I can at least be there to vouch for the severity of Natsu’s illness.”

“That’s perfect, sensei, thank you!” Shoyo shifted away from the table to bow low to Takeda, ignoring the healer’s stammering attempts to get him to stop. “Anything I say about Natsu wouldn’t be believed as much without your help. Thank you.”

“Of course, Shoyo-kun. I only wish there were more I could do to help.”

“You’ve already been an immense help,” Shoyo’s mother reassured him. “We would not have even known what was ailing Natsu, much less how to cure her, if it hadn’t been for you.”

Any hope Shoyo felt following breakfast began to seep out of him once he and Takeda began the journey back to the palace. With nothing else but riding his horse available to occupy him, it wasn’t long before he began thinking a little too hard over everything: Natsu’s illness, the wolf, being separated from his entire life, his entire world, for a year.

It didn’t make sense that so much could have changed in 24 hours. He had come home ready to simply spend some time with his family. Now he was leaving home with his entire future up in the air.

His return to the palace grounds spurred a series of news and explanations that he repeated countless times: to Yamaguchi and Tsukishima, to his other friends, to Captain Ukai. The news in turn spurred a series of reactions: pity, sadness, exhaustion in the captain’s case, acceptance from all.

Which left the daimyo himself.

By some stroke of luck, Takeda was able to arrange an audience with the daimyo for Shoyo the day before he was due back at home. Shoyo’s things were already packed and ready to go, but he couldn’t let himself think about the fact that he might never be able to bring them back to the place that had been his home for so many years.

His pulse sped up with every step he took towards the throne room, until he was kneeling in front of the daimyo with his heart practically leaping out of his throat.

“Ah…Hinata, was it?”

“Yes, Kageyama-sama.”

“Please, look up. Let me look at the samurai trying to escape for a year.”

“Your Grace, I would never–” The words died on Shoyo’s tongue when he looked up and was met with a kind, if not a little teasing, smile on Kazuyo Kageyama’s face.

“There he is. Captain Ukai and Healer Takeda tell me you are planning on leaving us for a year?”

“Yes, Kageyama-sama.”

“In order to help your mother take care of your ill sister?”

“Yes, Kageyama-sama.” Maybe he should’ve felt alarmed by how easy the lie was becoming to say, but the time to dwell on that was not when he was face-to-face with his daimyo.

“And you are hoping to be able to return to the samurai forces in a year?”

His use of the word “hoping” made the small kernel of hope in Shoyo get slowly buried by dread and defeat. “...Yes, Kageyama-sama.”

“You can understand why that idea gives me some pause.”

“I…yes. Kageyama-sama.” His fingers curled into the folds of his kimono over his lap.

“Have you given any thought to what you might do if you were not allowed to return?”

The lord’s eyes were not unkind, but the question still made Shoyo’s stomach clench. “Yes, Kageyama-sama. I would try to find work as a ronin, or…” The knot in his stomach tightened. “...or I would commit seppuku, if you saw fit. I understand what I’m asking could be seen as a slight to your family, though I would never deliberately cause such an insult. I…I only ask that, if this punishment is decided on, Your Grace allows me to ensure my mother and sister are healthy and safe before I go forth with the act.”

Lord Kageyama didn’t allow any emotions to slip through his kind features as Shoyo spoke, though his eyes did widen the tiniest fraction when Shoyo uttered the word “seppuku.” Once Shoyo finished speaking, the daimyo started with, “Young man, your concern for your family would never be seen as a slight to my own.”

Just like that, the knot in Shoyo’s stomach eased as he let out a slow sigh of relief. But he kept his hands clenched in his lap, hesitant to let hope in just yet.

“Your loyalty and honor belong to my family. Your love belongs to yours. Go, take care of them.” Before joy could fully wash over Shoyo, Lord Kageyama’s dark blue eyes sharpened, and his mouth curved into an almost-indistinguishable frown. “But when you return next year, I will expect your skills to be as they were when you left. There is no place for an untrained, unpracticed samurai in the ranks of my army. You’d do well to keep that in mind.”

“Yes, Kageyama-sama. I…I would never neglect my training.”

“Good. Well, then…I suppose we’ll see you in a year.” At Shoyo’s wide eyes, Lord Kageyama let his lips pull back into a kind smile. “May your sister enjoy a swift and thorough recovery, Hinata-kun.”

“Thank you, my Lord. Thank you!”

Shoyo wasn’t fully in the clear: he still had some things to discuss with Captain Ukai regarding who would cover for his duties, as well as finally let Tsukishima and Yamaguchi know about his departure.

But when he made his way back home to meet with the wolf, Shoyo left the palace grounds assured that there would be a place for him to return to, which was more than he had believed he would get.

His joy and relief was a fragile thing, though, weak enough to be dashed when he was returned home with Takeda and saw his mother already waiting for him on the engawa.

“Shoyo-kun.” He looked up at where Takeda was still perched on his horse. “Do you want me to come with you?”

“No. Thank you, sensei, but…I should do this alone.”

And so, with a shaky attempt at a reassuring smile, Takeda rode away, leaving Shoyo to cross the yard by himself.

As soon as his mother caught sight of him, her eyes widened and her mouth opened to ask a question. “I’m okay,” he told her, grinning when her mouth slowly shut again. “Takeda-sensei got me an audience with Lord Kageyama, and he gave me permission to return. I…I’ll be able to go back in a year.”

“Oh, Shoyo,” his mother gasped, bundling him into a tight hug. “That might be the first bit of good news I’ve heard in months.” Contrary to her words, when she pulled away, Shoyo could see her posture tensing up again. “Are you ready to tell Natsu everything?”

“Are you sure? We still haven’t see the wolf, maybe he–”

“Hello.”

His mother’s head snapped up, and Shoyo whirled around to see the large, dark shape of the wolf approaching up the path. Around his neck, he wore a small pouch, and from the way he held his head high, it wasn’t difficult to guess what was in it.

Still, the wolf announced, “I’ve brought the yamakumo.”

“Oh.” Joy and dread clashed across Shoyo’s mother’s features–joy of a possible cure for her daughter, and dread of what that meant for Shoyo. She was silent as she carefully opened the pouch around the wolf’s craned neck and drew out a leafy stem. Her silence grew heavy in the yard, stretching on with every second she took to inspect the stem, the leaves, even the roots that still clung to small clumps of dirt.

When she finally spoke, her soft voice melted the silence instead of breaking it. “You did it. This is yamakumo.”

The wolf let out a quiet huff before asking, “Then does that mean our deal still stands?”

Shoyo’s mother bit her lip as she turned to look at him. “I…I think that’s up to you, love.”

His answer was instant, even as his throat ached with it. “I’ll do it. But I need to tell my sister first. She needs to know about…about everything.”

“...Nii-chan?”

Shoyo’s stomach dropped. He whirled around to see Natsu peering at him from just behind the shoji screens, eyes wide with shock. “Natsu…shit, I…what’re you doing down here?”

“I heard your voice, and I…Nii-chan, what’s going on?”

This wasn’t how Shoyo wanted this to happen. He’d planned on telling Natsu everything after he had a few moments to figure out exactly what he was going to say. He was going to see her in her futon, so she’d be able to turn away and burrow back into her comfort if the news upset her.

Instead, he was coaxing her to sit with him and their mother, and clumsily explaining to her that he had figured out a way to get the yamakumo flower, but that it would keep him away from home for another year. No, he wasn’t going to risk his life to get it himself. Yes, he really did have to be gone for that long. No, he wasn’t being blackmailed into doing this. He wanted to do this, wanted to do whatever he could to help Natsu heal. No, this wasn’t her fault. He was doing this because he wanted to, not because she’d asked.

None of his reassurances could hold back her tears. “B-but you’re going to be alone,” she cried, looking almost furious for him despite her soaked cheeks. “A whole year alone, Nii-chan, that’s not fair! No one should go through that!”

“I won’t be alone, Natchan!”

“Then who–?”

“I’ll be there.”

Shoyo didn’t think it was possible, but Natsu’s eyes got even wider when she stared at the wolf. “You…you talked.”

“I did. I do.”

Natsu’s eyes bounced between the wolf, Shoyo, and their mother, before they settled back on the wolf. “Are you…how we’ll get the yamakumo?”

“I am.”

“Oh…thank you. But um…why do you need my brother for a year?”

“Natsu,” Shoyo hissed, “don’t worry about that. It’s nothing compared to what we’ll get in return.”

“It’s a whole year, Nii-chan! That’s not nothing!” She was pale and skinny and wore dark circles under her eyes, and she still looked as fierce as the strongest soldiers Shoyo had marched beside. “I don’t want you to do this!”

“It’s my choice to make. Let me make it, Natchan.”

A deep furrow appeared between Natsu’s brows the longer she glared at Shoyo, but Shoyo stared back just as resolutely, and eventually his little sister wilted. She never could out-stubborn him, no matter how much she tried. “Then…is this the last time I’ll see you?”

“I think so…but it’s just for a year! I’ll be back before you know it, and you’ll be all better by then, you’ll see!”

Natsu didn’t say anything to that. She just gazed at Shoyo, eyes flickering around his face like she was carving it into her memory, the way she always did before the daimyo’s year-long pilgrimages to Edo.

Then, without warning, she was flinging herself into his arms, burying her face into his shoulder. “Easy there, monkey girl.”

For once, she didn’t complain about the nickname. She just murmured, so soft he almost didn’t hear her, “I’ll miss you, Nii-chan. You really won’t be able to visit?”

“I dunno…we’ll have to see. But don’t get your hopes up, okay?”

“Okay.” She squeezed him tight, like he was her old plush bunny. “...Love you.”

“What was that?”

“You heard me!”

“I don’t think I quite caught that.”

“Nii-chan!” Natsu whined, pushing away from Shoyo and pouting at his laughter. “Don’t be mean!”

“I’m not being mean, I’m just making sure you won’t miss me too bad!” His laughter faded into a melancholic smile as he turned to his mother, who was already watching him with tears shining in her eyes.

She silently held her arms open, and he silently fit himself into them, pressing his forehead to her shoulder as she rocked him back and forth.

“Whatever happens, Shoyo,” she whispered at his ear, “you can always come home. Do you hear me? If you want to get out of this deal with the wolf, or if you can’t return to the daimyo, you can always come back to us. Always.”

“I know,” he whispered back, his breath nearly catching on the lump in his throat. “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you, too, my little sun.” Shoyo’s heart ached at the tears glistening in her eyes when she pulled back to press a kiss to his forehead. “Stay safe. This year will feel even longer without you.”

“It will for me, too. But I’ll be okay, I promise.” His eyes stung as he stepped out of his mother’s arms and turned to his sister, and they began brimming when he reached out and ruffled her hair. “I love you, Natchan.”

His solemn words made fresh tears fill Natsu’s eyes, and Shoyo caught the first drop falling just as she pressed her face to their mother’s shoulder. “Go,” their mother whispered, already crying, even as she nodded at the wolf waiting behind him. “You have a long trip. Don’t keep him waiting.”

Everything in Shoyo screamed to steal one more hug, press one more kiss to Natsu’s hair and their mother’s cheek, murmur one last goodbye. But their mother was right. It was time he began the journey to what would be his home for the coming year.

So, with a last sigh, he shouldered his pack and turned to the wolf, wiping at his eyes before shakily declaring, “Alright. Let’s go.”

The wolf didn’t move for a moment, just sat there and watched Shoyo in silence. He only stood when Shoyo met his eyes, giving himself a little shake before echoing, “Let’s go.”

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enbyboiwonder · 2 years

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I started a fic to see if I could even write mimachika (I don’t ship them, but I can see it, and I don’t NOT ship them) (I have a feeling I’ll be writing for all the 2.43 ships eventually, as long as I’m at least neutral toward them) but it’s turning out to be mostly about how Subaru and Kageyama are cousins lol

And now I wanna write a fic where Subaru and Ochi (now college freshmen, as I generally end up having 2.43 set a year before HQ) go to HaruKou to watch Kageyama (also Seiin/YuniChika, but it’s Kageyama he goes and finds after all the first day’s games have been played). And/or a fic where Kageyama (MS third-year, probably) and his family visit Subaru’s family in Fukui, and Subaru introduces him to the team as his adorable cousin, which embarrasses Kageyama

When they go out together, they definitely get mistaken for brothers lol the Kageyama genes are strong. (I haven’t gotten that far reading yet, but from poking around on the wiki, it seems the idea I’d gotten into my head bc of a fic I read a few years ago that Kageyama’s mom is a single mother and Kageyama is her maiden name is. not canon. But either way, Kazuyo is Subaru’s maternal grandfather.)

They might look really similar and be voiced by the same seiyuu, but their personalities are total opposites lol I feel like they’d be cute. Also Subaru correctly interpreting Kageyama’s mannerisms and whatnot that most people misinterpret due to his autism is Good

#ochi thinking kageyama's glaring at him and that he hates him #subaru glancing over and identifying that kageyama's just shy and is working himself up to ask him something #probably something about setting #kageyama finally approaching him and it's a question about liking and dating a teammate #(since subaru introduced ochi as his boyfriend)#ochi sees why haijima reminds subaru of kageyama but kageyama's definitely more intense #ebw.op #2.43 seiin koukou danshi volley bu #haikyuu!!#mimura subaru #kageyama tobio #ochi mitsuomi #2.43

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tokkadraws · 4 years

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HAIKYUU 387 spoilers

Who else is crying? T-T

I read Haikyuu since 2013 and i have never realized that the only flashback that we had of Kageyama’s life was his king phase in Kitagawa Daichi T-T. i feel like my eyes were open after 7 years aksjsjdjdjfjr

BUT FIRST

Kageyama Tobio HAS a sister?!!! I’m sure i’m not the only one which all this years had this headcanon of Kageyama being a only child whose parents are never around (the fandom asserted that one, point for us) But I’m SOOOOO HAPPY that Baby Kageyama had people around him and that he hasn’t always been this emo guy T-T

Next, I think that is important for us the fandom and for the manga to be clear that Kageyama isn’t just a genius or a prodigy, he’s a guy that even before being able to speak was already breathing voleyball, he has a talent of course but more important he had dedication AND a guiadence not only for the game also the self maintenance.

I’m not gonna die for corona virus because my heart died when Kageyama Kazuyo died T-T

So if whe look good to the Haikyuu’s timeline I’m almost sure that Kageyama’s “King of the court” phase matches whit his grandpa’s dead and god Furudate THANK YOU for give us the chance to know that it isn’t true that the only thing that Kageyama cares about is volleyball. This King of the court was just the reflex of a sad kid who has lost his grandpa, the person which he spended the most time with T-T

People, this is character development 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

“WILL COME AND FIND YOU” AAAAAAAAAA in this context in which Kageyama is obviously thinking about Hinata is just SO BEAUTIFUL T-T Kageyama Tobio is recognizing Hinata Shoyo , the guy he put his faith in 7 years ago. Now I understand why Kageyama waited for Hinata, inside him he kind of know that Hinata could be this person who would find him T-T

And I’m obviously a Kagehina shipper so this was so precious for me Ansjsjdjd

Today after 8 years of the manga is where we really got to know Kageyama 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

This is so long but I’m just really happy, this manga will be the death of me 🤧

#hinata shouyou #haikyuu #haikyuu!!#kagehina #haikyuu 387 #kageyama tobio #haikyuu manga #viz manga

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ao3feed-daisuga · 3 years

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said you’re coming back home, don’t feel so alone (love yourself and you’ll do no wrong)

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/34LjqRG

by jublis

The ball rolls gently on the ground, all the way to Tobio’s feet. He bends down to pick it up, and something in his blood sizzles like lightning. He looks at the leathery surface, then at his sister’s wild smile and neat hair; looks back at the court and the net, where the boys are running a spiking practice. Everyone else seems focused on the attackers, but Tobio’s eyes are zeroed on the one tossing. Set, connect, spike. Bang-bang-bang.

No one wins without the setter.

Tobio tosses the ball to Miwa and says, “Again.”

Or, Kageyama Tobio grows up, older, and not that much wiser at all. Featuring brothers and sisters, anger, connection, and that moment when someone finally catches up with you.

Words: 9002, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 6 of and i wrote a nice blackbox recording (just to hear what people say when they realize what's coming, about a second or so away)

Fandoms: Haikyuu!!

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen, M/M

Characters: Kageyama Tobio, Kageyama Miwa, Kageyama Kazuyo, Kageyama Tobio's Parents, Hinata Shouyou, Sugawara Koushi, Sawamura Daichi, Tanaka Ryuunosuke, Tsukishima Kei, Yamaguchi Tadashi, Oikawa Tooru, Kitagawa Daiichi Volleyball Club

Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Kageyama Miwa & Kageyama Tobio, Kageyama Kazuyo & Kageyama Tobio, Hinata Shouyou & Kageyama Tobio, Kageyama Tobio & Karasuno Volleyball Club, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi

Additional Tags: the last three are kinda only there in spirit, SO, Character Study, Angst, i Will make you cry im sorry, Hurt/Comfort, Brother-Sister Relationships, Canonical Character Death, this is actually a love letter to kageyama miwa disguised as a character study, sorry tobio im making out w ur sister rn, Pre-Slash, can u interpret the kagehina as platonic? yes, will you be wrong? also yes, art is subjective but kagehina is NOT sit down and eat ur fruit, Team as Family, Introspection, kageyama is the resident angst man but hes allowed to do that, Autistic Kageyama Tobio, Canon Compliant, Pre-Canon, mostly!

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/34LjqRG

#IFTTT #ao3feed #fanfic #haikyuu #haikyuu!!#daisuga #hq

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ao3feed-kurotsuki · 4 years

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I'm stronger with you

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2UUVgOT

by Boardmyship

IT'S CROSSOVER TIME!!!!!!! Remember when the x-files and cops did a crossover with the warewolves and everyone was loosing their marbles and then all the little kids were exited about that's so sweet life of Hannah Montana. How about when sleepy hollow crossed over with bones and that blue fire almost destroyed everything. This is a kagehina centric fic but it will have ships sailing from all over the anime, manga world. It's a bad guys helping people kind of thing with a team and disguises and all kinds of gadgets and fun stuff to steal and people to rescue. There will be tons of smut. I mean mountains. You could build a whole nother planet with the amount of sexy smuttiness I will throw in your direction. Of course there's plenty of plot too. Nerdy things and hidden references all over the place. I hope you enjoy. Comments encouraged let me know what you think but don't make me cry unless it's of happiness please.

Words: 2938, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Haikyuu!!, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia, Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M

Characters: Hinata Shouyou, Kageyama Tobio, Kageyama Miwa, Hinata Natsu, Tsukishima Kei, Kuroo Tetsurou, Kageyama Kazuyo, Akaashi Keiji, Bokuto Koutarou, Kozume Kenma, Haiba Lev, Azumane Asahi, Nishinoya Yuu, Yachi Hitoka, Shimizu Kiyoko, Sugawara Koushi, Sawamura Daichi, Midoriya Izuku, Todoroki Shouto, Bakugou Katsuki, Kirishima Eijirou, Katsuki Yuuri, Victor Nikiforov

Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei, Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Haiba Lev/Kozume Kenma, Shimizu Kiyoko/Yachi Hitoka, Midoriya Izuku/Todoroki Shouto, Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou, Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov

Additional Tags: Kidnapping, Russian Mafia, Mafia Victor Nikiforov, Mafia Katsuki Yuuri, Yakuza, Gun Violence, Escape, Team, It's For a Case, People Watching, Undercover, Government Agencies, Conspiracy, Comedy, Fluff and Smut, Smut, Shameless Smut, Eventual Smut, First Time, Oral Sex, Rough Sex, Anal Sex, Gay Sex, Crossover, Volleyball, Volleyball Dorks in Love, Ice Skating, Crime Fighting, Fight Sex, Play Fighting, Running Away, Pregnancy, Babies, Original Character(s), Arranged Marriage, Hospitals, Rimming, Nipple Play, Nipple Licking, Torture, Imprisonment, Implied/Referenced Torture, Rescue Missions, Rescue, Hacking, Disguise, Crossdressing

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2UUVgOT

#IFTTT #ao3feed #fanfic #kurotsuki #haikyuu

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architectnews · 3 years

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Pritzker Architecture Prize 2021 Winner

Pritzker Architecture Prize 2021 Winner, Architects Laureates Awarded, Design News

Pritzker Architecture Prize 2021 Winner News

September 2, 2021

Pritzker Architecture Prize 2021 Ceremony

Announcing a Special 2021 Ceremony Video for the 2021 Pritzker Architecture Prize

photo courtesy of The Hyatt Foundation

The Pritzker Architecture Prize announces a special ceremony video to honor 2021 Laureates, Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal, which will be released on Tuesday, September 14, 2021 at 10am EDT, viewable on the website pritzkerprize.com and social media channels.

“We are at a point in the history of architecture where the question of inhabiting becomes an essential subject. We do this by constructing the conditions for freedom through space, in a positive and open relationship with the climate, and by starting from the existing, without ever demolishing anything. This is the essence of our work,” expresses Vassal during his acceptance of the Pritzker Prize.

Lacaton follows, “Demolition has become a short-term solution, an easy decision as well as a mode of urban generation. It is even a means for recycling. Yet demolition is irreversible. Any demolition destroys a vast quantity of information, knowledge, layers, materials and memories. Life takes a long time to establish and to grow.”

Ceremony speakers filmed their remarks remotely, from locations around the world, offering landscapes from the Andes Mountains to the Rockies, from cities to seas, and from private and public spaces spanning Asia, Europe, and North and South Americas. Viewers will travel to built works by Lacaton and Vassal, from the rooftop of Frac Grand Large—Hauts-de-France (Dunkerque, France), a waterfront building featuring galleries for contemporary art, public installations and regional programming that underscores the architects’ commitment to “never demolish”; to Palais de Tokyo (Paris, France), which became the largest center of contemporary art in Europe, upon the 2012 transformation by the architects that maximized functionality and redeemed the pre-existing.

“Much of their built work calls us to be alert to the time in which we are living. It is to the peripheral and the marginal that we are called to serve. Lacaton and Vassal are surely amongst our most distinguished guides, devoted as they have been for many decades to the welfare and emotional well-being of those for whom they create housing with compassion and aesthetic beauty” says Tom Pritzker, Chair of Hyatt Foundation, which sponsors the award.

“Such unpretentious architectural language may be the reason why their buildings encourage unexpected instead of predefined functions,” comments Alejandro Aravena, Jury Chair. “To be humble does not mean to be shy. Actually, a rather bold and self-confident character is required for subtle operations. And this may be one of the most delicate balances that Lacaton and Vassal’s architecture has been able to achieve – their careful yet straightforward approach to the built environment.”

Jurors Barry Bergdoll, a Meyer Schapiro Professor of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University, curator and author, New York, United States; Deborah Berke, architect and Dean of Yale School of Architecture, New York, United States; Stephen Breyer, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Washington, D.C.; André Corrêa do Lago, architectural critic, curator, and Brazilian Ambassador to India, Delhi; Kazuyo Sejima, architect, educator and 2010 Pritzker Laureate, Tokyo, Japan; Benedetta Tagliabue, architect, Barcelona, Spain; and Wang Shu, architect, educator, and 2012 Pritzker Laureate, Hangzhou, China, lend their insights into this year’s selection.

From the Fort of Bregançon, a presidential residence located in the south of France in the Var department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, addresses the Laureates, “Each time, you have bet on openness. You have breathed life into your spaces, making them altruistic, bright, delicate. You remind us, as if it were necessary, that architecture will always be a political form of art, a social art that designs the way we live, that invents or reinvents a certain way of using the world, that reinvents the way we live in places, the way we move, the way we create society…”

2020 Laureates, Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell, deliver a special tribute from the reading room of the Irish Architectural Archive, founded in 1976 to preserve the largest body of native and historic architectural books, drawings and photographs, housed in a Georgian era building. “It is important for the world to know that people like you exist. It’s important for us,” states Farrell. “It is your philosophical position, your highly intelligent understanding of situations, your seemingly modest solutions, that make you leaders. Your architectural strategies are both delicate and robust, which help us see solutions that are inventive, that lead to renewed ways of thinking, to renewed ways of making.”

Available to the public, this video marks the second pre-filmed ceremony in the 43-year history of the Prize, following the 2020 ceremony. Previously, ceremonies have been held in-person throughout sixteen countries on four continents, spanning North and South America to Europe to the Middle East to Far East Asia, at architecturally and historically significant venues throughout the world including UNESCO World Heritage sites, palaces, Heads of State residences and unfinished or new buildings. Each location pays homage to the architecture of other eras and/or works by previous Laureates of the Prize.

Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal are the 49th and 50th Laureates of the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

Previously on e-architect:

Mar 17 + 16, 2021

Pritzker Architecture Prize 2021 Announcement

Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal Receive the 2021 Pritzker Architecture Prize

Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal, of France, have been selected as the 2021 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureates, announced Tom Pritzker, Chairman of The Hyatt Foundation, which sponsors the award that is known internationally as architecture’s highest honor.

“Good architecture is open—open to life, open to enhance the freedom of anyone, where anyone can do what they need to do,” says Lacaton. “It should not be demonstrative or imposing, but it must be something familiar, useful and beautiful, with the ability to quietly support the life that will take place within it.”

“Not only have they defined an architectural approach that renews the legacy of modernism, but they have also proposed an adjusted definition of the very profession of architecture. The modernist hopes and dreams to improve the lives of many are reinvigorated through their work that responds to the climatic and ecological emergencies of our time, as well as social urgencies, particularly in the realm of urban housing. They accomplish this through a powerful sense of space and materials that creates architecture as strong in its forms as in its convictions, as transparent in its aesthetic as in its ethics,” states the 2021 Jury Citation, in part.

Lacaton + Vassal

The architects increase living space exponentially and inexpensively, through winter gardens and balconies that enable inhabitants to conserve energy and access nature during all seasons. Latapie House (Floirac, France 1993) was their initial application of greenhouse technologies to install a winter garden that allowed a larger residence for a modest budget. The east-facing retractable and transparent polycarbonate panels on the back side of the home allow natural light to illuminate the entire dwelling, enlarging its indoor communal spaces from the living room to the kitchen, and enabling ease of climate control.

Site for Contemporary Creation, Phase 2, Palais de Tokyo: photo courtesy of Philippe Ruault

“This year, more than ever, we have felt that we are part of humankind as a whole. Be it for health, political or social reasons, there is a need to build a sense of collectiveness. Like in any interconnected system, being fair to the environment, being fair to humanity, is being fair to the next generation,” comments Alejandro Aravena, Chair of the Pritzker Architecture Prize Jury. “Lacaton and Vassal are radical in their delicacy and bold through their subtleness, balancing a respectful yet straightforward approach to the built environment.” On a grander scale, Lacaton and Vassal, alongside Frédéric Druot, transformed La Tour Bois le Prêtre (Paris, France 2011), a 17-story, 96-unit city housing project originally built in the early 1960s.

Latapie House, Floirac, France, 1993: photo courtesy of Philippe Ruault

The architects increased the interior square footage of every unit through the removal of the original concrete façade, and extended the footprint of the building to form bioclimatic balconies. Once-constrained living rooms now extend into new terraces as flexible space, featuring large windows for unrestricted views of the city, thus reimagining not only the aesthetic of social housing, but also the intention and possibilities of such communities within the urban geography. This framework was similarly applied to the transformation of three buildings (G, H and I), consisting of 530 apartments, at Grand Parc (Bordeaux, France 2017), with Druot and Christophe Hutin. The transformation resulted in a dramatic visual reinvention of the social housing complex, the modernization of elevators and plumbing, and the generous expansion of all units, some nearly doubling in size, without the displacement of any residents and for one third of the cost of demolishing and building new.

“Our work is about solving constraints and problems, and finding spaces that can create uses, emotions and feelings. At the end of this process and all of this effort, there must be lightness and simplicity, when all that has been before was so complex,” explains Vassal.

The architects rebalance dormant or inefficient rooms to yield open spaces that accommodate greater movement and changing needs, thus lengthening the longevity of the buildings. Their most recent transformation of Palais de Tokyo (Paris, France 2012), after a restoration of the space more than a decade earlier, increased the museum by 20,000 square meters, in part by creating new underground space, and assuring that every area of the building is reserved for the user experience. Retreating from white cube galleries and guided pathways that are characteristic of many contemporary art museums, the architects instead created voluminous, unfinished spaces. These spaces allow artists and curators to create boundless exhibitions for all mediums of art within a range of physical environments, from dark and cavernous to transparent and sunlit, that encourage visitors to linger.

Lacaton insists, “Transformation is the opportunity of doing more and better with what is already existing. The demolishing is a decision of easiness and short term. It is a waste of many things—a waste of energy, a waste of material, and a waste of history. Moreover, it has a very negative social impact. For us, it is an act of violence.”

Site for Contemporary Creation, Phase 2, Palais de Tokyo: photo courtesy of Philippe Ruault

Adhering to a precept of “never demolish”, Lacaton and Vassal undertake restrained interventions to upgrade dated infrastructure while allowing enduring properties of a building to remain. Rather than filling and losing the impressive void of the Atelier de Préfabrication no. 2 (AP2), a postwar shipbuilding facility at the shoreline of a waterfront redevelopment project, the architects chose to erect a second building, identical in shape and size to the first. They used transparent, prefabricated materials, resulting in unhindered views through the new to the old. The original landmark, designated for public programming, and the newer structure, FRAC Nord-Pas de Calais (Dunkerque, France 2013), housing galleries, offices and storage for the regional collections of contemporary art, can function independently or collaboratively. They are connected by an internal street located in the void between the two structures.

Much of their work encompasses new buildings, and the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Nantes (Nantes, France 2009) exemplifies the significance of freedom of use. To accommodate the range of pedagogies necessary for its growing student body, the plot was maximized and the architects were able to almost double the space outlined in the brief and do so within budget. Located at the bank of the Loire River, this large-scale, double-height, three-story building features a concrete and steel frame encased in retractable polycarbonate walls and sliding doors.

Latapie House, Floirac, France, 1993: photo courtesy of Philippe Ruault

Areas of various sizes exist throughout, and all spaces are deliberately unprescribed and adaptable. An auditorium can open to extend into the street, and high ceilings create generous spaces necessary for construction workshops. Even the wide, sloping ramp that connects the ground to the 2,000 square meter functional rooftop is intended as a flexible learning and gathering space. “Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal have always understood that architecture lends its capacity to build a community for all of society,” remarks Pritzker. “Their aim to serve human life through their work, demonstration of strength in modesty, and cultivation of a dialogue between old and new, broadens the field of architecture.”

Significant works also include Cap Ferret House (Cap Ferret, France 1998), 14 social houses for Cité Manifeste (Mulhouse, France 2005); Pôle Universitaire de Sciences de Gestion (Bordeaux, France 2008); low-rise apartments for 53 units (Saint-Nazaire, France 2011), a multipurpose theater (Lille, 2013), Ourcq-Jaurès student and social housing (Paris, France 2013); a 59-unit social housing development at Jardins Neppert (Mulhouse, France 2014–2015); and a residential and office building in Chêne-Bourg (Geneva, Switzerland 2020).

They established their practice, Lacaton & Vassal, in Paris in 1987, and have completed over 30 projects throughout Europe and West Africa. Lacaton and Vassal are the 49th and 50th Laureates of the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

129 Units, Ourcq-Juarès Student and Social Housing, France: photo courtesy of Philippe Ruault

Pritzker Architecture Prize 2021 Winner image / information received 160321

Previous Laureates

Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, 2020 Laureates Ireland Presented virtually

Arata Isozaki, 2019 Laureate Japan Presented at the Château de Versailles, Versailles, France

Balkrishna Doshi, 2018 Laureate India Presented at the Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, Canada

Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem and Ramon Vilalta, 2017 Laureates Spain Presented at the State Guest House, Akasaka Palace, Tokyo, Japan

Alejandro Aravena, 2016 Laureate Chile Presented at the United Nations Headquarters, New York, New York

Frei Otto, 2015 Laureate Germany Presented at the New World Center, Miami Beach, Florida

Shigeru Ban, 2014 Laureate Japan Presented at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Toyo Ito, 2013 Laureate Japan Presented at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, Massachusetts

Wang Shu, 2012 Laureate The People’s Republic of China Presented at the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, The People’s Republic of China

Eduardo Souto de Moura, 2011 Laureate Portugal Presented at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, Washington, DC

Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, 2010 Laureates Japan Presented at the Immigration Museum, Ellis Island, New York Bay

Peter Zumthor, 2009 Laureate Switzerland Presented at the Palace of the Buenos Aires City Legislature, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Jean Nouvel, 2008 Laureate France Presented at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC

Richard Rogers, 2007 Laureate United Kingdom Presented at the Banqueting House, Whitehall Palace, London, United Kingdom

Paulo Mendes da Rocha, 2006 Laureate Brazil Presented at the Dolmabahçe Palace, Istanbul, Turkey

Thom Mayne, 2005 Laureate United States of America Presented at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, Chicago, Illinois

Zaha Hadid, 2004 Laureate United Kingdom Presented at the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

Jørn Utzon, 2003 Laureate Denmark Presented at Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, Madrid, Spain

Glenn Murcutt, 2002 Laureate Australia Presented at Michelangelo’s Campidoglio in Rome, Italy

Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, 2001 Laureates Switzerland Presented at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia

Rem Koolhaas, 2000 Laureate Netherlands Presented at the Jerusalem Archaeological Park, Israel

Norman Foster, 1999 Laureate United Kingdom Presented at the Altes Museum, Berlin, Germany

Renzo Piano, 1998 Laureate Italy Presented at the White House, Washington, DC

Sverre Fehn, 1997 Laureate Norway Presented at the construction site of the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain

Rafael Moneo, 1996 Laureate Spain Presented at the construction site of the Getty Center, Los Angeles, California

Tadao Ando, 1995 Laureate Japan Presented at the Grand Trianon and the Palace of Versailles, France

Christian de Portzamparc, 1994 Laureate France Presented at The Commons, Columbus, Indiana

Fumihiko Maki, 1993 Laureate Japan Presented at Prague Castle, Czech Republic

Alvaro Siza, 1992 Laureate Portugal Presented at the Harold Washington Library Center, Chicago, Illinois

Robert Venturi, 1991 Laureate United States of America Presented at Palacio de Iturbide, Mexico City, Mexico

Aldo Rossi, 1990 Laureate Italy Presented at Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy

Frank O. Gehry, 1989 Laureate United States of America Presented at Todai-ji Buddhist Temple, Nara, Japan

Oscar Niemeyer, 1988 Laureate Brazil Presented at the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois

Gordon Bunshaft, 1988 Laureate United States of America Presented at the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois

Kenzo Tange, 1987 Laureate Japan Presented at the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas

Gottfried Böhm, 1986 Laureate Germany Presented at Goldsmiths’ Hall, London, United Kingdom

Hans Hollein, 1985 Laureate Austria Presented at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California

Richard Meier, 1984 Laureate United States of America Presented at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

Ieoh Ming Pei, 1983 Laureate United States of America Presented at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York

Kevin Roche, 1982 Laureate United States of America Presented at the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois

James Stirling, 1981 Laureate United Kingdom Presented at the National Building Museum, Washington, DC

Luis Barragán, 1980 Laureate Mexico Presented at Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC

Philip Johnson, 1979 Laureate United States of America Presented at Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC

About the Medal

The bronze medallion awarded to each Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize is based on designs of Louis Sullivan, famed Chicago architect generally acknowledged as the father of the skyscraper. On one side is the name of the prize. On the reverse, three words are inscribed, “firmness, commodity and delight.” These are the three conditions referred to by Henry Wotton in his 1624 treatise, The Elements of Architecture, which was a translation of thoughts originally set down nearly 2,000 years ago by Marcus Vitruvius in his Ten Books on Architecture, dedicated to the Roman Emperor Augustus. Wotton, who did the translation when he was England’s first ambassador to Venice, used the complete quote as: “The end is to build well. Well-building hath three conditions: commodity, firmness and delight.”

History of the Prize

The Pritzker Architecture Prize was established by The Hyatt Foundation in 1979 to annually honor a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture. It has often been described as “architecture’s most prestigious award” or as “the Nobel of architecture.”

The prize takes its name from the Pritzker family, whose international business interests, which include the Hyatt Hotels, are headquartered in Chicago. They have long been known for their support of educational, social welfare, scientific, medical and cultural activities. Jay A. Pritzker, who founded the prize with his wife, Cindy, died on January 23, 1999. His eldest son, Thomas J. Pritzker, has become chairman of The Hyatt Foundation. In 2004, Chicago celebrated the opening of Millennium Park, in which a music pavilion designed by Pritzker Laureate Frank Gehry was dedicated and named for the founder of the prize. It was in the Jay Pritzker Pavilion that the 2005 awarding ceremony took place.

Tom Pritzker explains, “As native Chicagoans, it’s not surprising that we are keenly aware of architecture, living in the birthplace of the skyscraper, a city filled with buildings designed by architectural legends such as Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies van der Rohe and many others.”

He continues, “In 1967, our company acquired an unfinished building which was to become the Hyatt Regency Atlanta. Its soaring atrium was wildly successful and became the signature piece of our hotels around the world. It was immediately apparent that this design had a pronounced effect on the mood of our guests and attitude of our employees. While the architecture of Chicago made us cognizant of the art of architecture, our work with designing and building hotels made us aware of the impact architecture could have on human behavior.”

And he elaborates further, “So in 1978, when the family was approached with the idea of honoring living architects, we were responsive. Mom and Dad (Cindy and the late Jay A. Pritzker) believed that a meaningful prize would encourage and stimulate not only a greater public awareness of buildings, but also would inspire greater creativity within the architectural profession.” He went on to add that he is extremely proud to carry on that effort on behalf of his family.

Many of the procedures and rewards of the Pritzker Prize are modeled after the Nobel Prize. Laureates of the Pritzker Architecture Prize receive a $100,000 grant, a formal citation certificate, and since 1987, a bronze medal. Prior to that year, a limited edition Henry Moore sculpture was presented to each Laureate.

Nominations are accepted from all nations; from government officials, writers, critics, academicians, fellow architects, architectural societies or industrialists, virtually anyone who might have an interest in advancing great architecture. The prize is awarded irrespective of nationality, race, creed, gender or ideology.

The nominating procedure is continuous from year to year, closing each November. Nominations received after the closing are automatically considered in the following calendar year. The final selection is made by an international jury through undisclosed deliberations and voting.

The Evolution of the Jury

The first jury, assembled in 1979, consisted of the late J. Carter Brown, then director of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC; the late J. Irwin Miller, then chairman of the executive and finance committees of Cummins Engine Company; the late César Pelli, architect and at the time, dean of the Yale University School of Architecture; Arata Isozaki, architect from Japan and 2019 Pritzker Prize Laureate; and the late Kenneth Clark (Lord Clark of Saltwood), noted English author and art historian. Jury members are invited to serve for a minimum three-year tenure. The gradual changes over time in the jury composition allow for a balance between stability and new perspectives on the committee.

Lord Rothschild of the UK was Chair of the Pritzker Prize Jury from 2002–2004. Lord Peter Palumbo, well-known architectural patron and former chairman of the Arts Council of Great Britain, former trustee of the Mies van der Rohe Archives of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and former chairman of the trustees, Serpentine Galleries, served as Chair from 2005–2016 and continued as a member through 2018. 2002 Pritzker Prize Laureate Glenn Murcutt joined the jury in 2011 and held the Chair position from 2017–2018. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer joined the jury in 2012, was appointed Chair from 2019–2020, and presently remains a member of the jury.

Jury members are assembled from around the world and reflect a variety of professions and points of view. The current Jury Chair is Alejandro Aravena of Santiago, Chile, 2016 Pritzker Prize Laureate, Founder and Executive Director of ELEMENTAL, and former juror.

Other current members include André Aranha Corrêa do Lago, architectural critic, curator and Brazilian Ambassador to India (Delhi, India); Barry Bergdoll, Meyer Schapiro Professor of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University (New York, NY); Deborah Berke, architect, educator and dean of the Yale School of Architecture (New York, NY); Sejima Kazuyo, 2010 Pritzker Prize Laureate and Japanese architect (Tokyo, Japan); Benedetta Tagliabue, architect and educator from Italy who runs her practice, EMBT (Barcelona, Spain); and Wang Shu, 2012 Pritzker Prize Laureate, Chinese architect and educator (Hangzhou, China).

Others who have served include people from the world of business such as the late Thomas J. Watson, Jr., former chairman of IBM; the late Giovanni Agnelli, former chairman of Fiat; Rolf Fehlbaum, then chairman of Vitra, Basel, Switzerland; and Ratan N. Tata, chairman of Tata Trusts, Mumbai, India.

Critics, journalists and curators include the late Toshio Nakamura, former editor of a+u in Japan; the late Ada Louise Huxtable, author and architecture critic and the longest serving juror to date; Victoria Newhouse, architectural historian and author; Karen Stein, writer, editor and architectural consultant in New York; and Kristin Feireiss, architecture curator, writer and editor based in Berlin, Germany.

Numerous architects from around the world have served including Americans Frank Gehry, the late Philip Johnson and the late Kevin Roche; as well as the late Ricardo Legorreta of Mexico, Fumihiko Maki of Japan and the late Charles Correa of India; Jorge Silvetti, architect and professor of architecture at Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts; and Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi, 2018 Pritzker Prize Laureate, architect and professor of architecture from Ahmedabad, India. Since 2000, there have been many outstanding architects associated with the Pritzker Prize jury including Juhani Pallasmaa, architect, professor and author, Helsinki, Finland; Shigeru Ban, 2014 Pritzker Prize Laureate, architect and professor at Keio University, Tokyo, Japan; Carlos Jimenez, a principal of Carlos Jimenez and professor at Rice University, Houston, Texas; the late Zaha Hadid, 2004 Pritzker Prize Laureate and architect; Renzo Piano, 1998 Pritzker Prize Laureate and architect, of Paris, France and Genoa, Italy; Richard Rogers, 2007 Pritzker Prize Laureate and architect, London, United Kingdom; and Yung Ho Chang, architect and educator of Beijing, The People’s Republic of China.

Bill Lacy was Executive Director from 1998 to 2005. He was an architect and advisor to the J. Paul Getty Trust and many other foundations, as well as president of the State University of New York at Purchase. Previous secretaries to the jury were the late Brendan Gill, who was architecture critic of The New Yorker magazine, and the late Carleton Smith. The late Arthur Drexler, who was the director of the department of architecture and design at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City, was a consultant to the jury for many years.

Martha Thorne became the Executive Director of the Pritzker Prize in 2005, and will step down from this position following the 2021 announcement, while remaining an advisor to the Prize. She will continue her expansive role as Dean of IE School of Architecture and Design, Madrid/Segovia, Spain, and will work with international clients facilitating competitions and architect-selection processes. She is the former associate curator of architecture at the Art Institute of Chicago, author of numerous books and articles on contemporary architecture, and has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Graham Foundation and the Board of the International Archive of Women in Architecture.

Manuela Lucá-Dazio, based in Paris, France and former Executive Director of the Department of Visual Arts and Architecture of La Biennale di Venezia, is an advisor to the Prize and will succeed Ms. Thorne as Executive Director.

Pritzker Ceremonies Through the Years

Soon after establishing the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1979, the Pritzker family began a tradition of moving the award ceremonies to architecturally and historically significant venues throughout the world. Befitting a truly international prize, the ceremony has been held in 15 countries on four continents from North and South America to Europe to the Middle East to Far East Asia.

For the first two years of the Prize, the ceremony was held at historic Dumbarton Oaks in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC where the first Laureate, Philip Johnson, designed a major addition to the estate. For six of its first seven years, the Prize was awarded in the District of Columbia. Its fourth year, the ceremony traveled for the first time—to the Art Institute of Chicago— but it wasn’t until 1986 that the Pritzker Prize was awarded at an international location. Since then, Europe has hosted the ceremony 12 times in eight countries, twice each in the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and France. The Prize ceremony has visited some of the continent’s most beautiful and historic locales from the ninth-century Prague Castle in the Czech Republic; to Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum, opened in 1997; and the 2013 reopened Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

Beyond Europe and the U.S., the Prize has traveled twice to the Middle East and Latin America, and thrice to East Asia. In 2012, the Prize ceremony was held for the first time in China. Coincidentally, Chinese architect Wang Shu was the Laureate and received the award in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People. Shu was not the first architect to be honored in his home country, but as ceremony locations are usually chosen each year long before the Laureate is selected, there is no direct relationship between the honoree and the ceremony venue. In 1989, Frank Gehry was awarded the Prize at Todai-ji in Nara, Japan. This eighth-century Buddhist temple is one of three UNESCO World Heritage sites to host the ceremony, along with Monticello in Virginia and the Palace of Versailles in France.

As architecture is as much art as design, the Pritzker Prize ceremony has been held in numerous museums. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fort Worth’s Kimball Museum and Washington DC’s National Gallery of Art have hosted the Pritzker. Libraries too, have been a popular venue choice, including 2013’s site, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Other examples include the Harold Washington Library in Chicago, the Library of Congress and the Huntington Library, Arts Collections and Botanical Gardens near Los Angeles. The other ceremony held in Los Angeles took place at the Getty Center in 1996, which was designed by 1984 Pritzker Laureate Richard Meier. At the time, the museum was only partially completed.

The Prize ceremony often visits newly opened or unfinished buildings. In 2005, the ceremony was held at the new Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Chicago’s Millennium Park, which was designed by 1989 Laureate Frank Gehry. It was the second Gehry-designed building that hosted the ceremony, the first being the Guggenheim Museum in Spain. Other historically important venues for the Pritzker include the Jerusalem Archaeological Park. With the ceremony at the foot of the Temple Mount, it was the Pritzker’s oldest venue. The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, comprised of palaces of the Russian czars, hosted the 2004 ceremony that honored the first female winner of the award, Zaha Hadid. For the Pritzker Prize’s first visit to Latin America in 1991, the ceremony was held at the Palace of Iturbide in Mexico City where the first Emperor of Mexico was crowned. In 2018, the ceremony was held in Toronto at the recently opened Aga Kahn Museum, designed by 1993 Laureate Fumihiko Maki.

Heads of state have been among the many dignitaries to attend Pritzker ceremonies. U.S. Presidents Clinton and Obama attended ceremonies in Washington in 1998 and 2011 respectively, the former being held at the White House. The King of Spain attended the 2003 ceremony at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid. The Prime Minister of Turkey and the President of the Czech Republic also attended ceremonies when held in their respective countries. Their Majesties, the Emperor and Empress of Japan, attended the 2017 ceremony at the Akasaka Palace, Tokyo, which was originally built as the residence for the Crown Prince in 1909.

Like the architects it honors, the Pritzker Prize has often bucked convention, holding its ceremonies in unique spaces. In 1994, when French architect Christian de Portzamparc received the Prize, the community of Columbus, Indiana was honored. Numerous notable architects designed buildings in the small Midwest city. In 2010, the ceremony was held in the middle of New York Harbor at Ellis Island’s Immigration Museum. Eight years before, the ceremony took place on one of the seven traditional hills of Rome in Michelangelo’s monumental Piazza di Campidoglio.

Last year, a special video was produced and shared virtually to honor 2020 Laureates, Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, due to limitations associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Created in lieu of an in-person ceremony for the first time in the 42-year history of the award, the video featured participants delivering their remarks remotely. Viewers were invited into public and private locations around the world including the Long Room, the main chamber of the Old Library at Trinity College Dublin, which was established in 1592; the State Reception Room in Dublin, founded in 1802 at Áras an Uachtaráin, the official residence of the President of Ireland since 1938; and Palacio de Liria in Madrid, built in the 18th century with 20th-century reforms by Edwin Lutyens.

Details pertaining to the 43rd Pritzker Prize ceremony honoring 2021 Laureates, Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal, will be announced this summer.

2021 Pritzker Architecture Prize information from the The Hyatt Foundation / Pritzker Architecture Prize March 17, 2021

Major Architecture Award for Grafton Architects

Irish architecture practice was also announced as the winners in 2020: Dublin-based Grafton Architects.

Mar 5, 2019

2019 Prize Winner

Arata Isozaki Receives the 2019 Pritzker Architecture Prize

Arata Isozaki, distinguished Japanese architect, city planner and theorist, has been selected as the 2019 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the award that is known internationally as architecture’s highest honor.

Pritzker Prize

Pritzker Prize Architects : main page with current winner information

Location: Chicago, USA

Pritzker Architecture Prize – Past Winners

Pritzker Prize 2015 – Frei Otto selected as the 2015 Pritzker Architecture Prize

Ruta del Peregrino, Jalisco, Mexico – Alejandro Aravena (Elemental) Joint Project

Pritzker Architecture Prize Winner 2014 Shigeru Ban architect

A key building by this architect: Centre Pompidou-Metz, France: photo : Roland Halbe

Pritzker Architecture Prize Winner 2013 Toyo Ito architect

Pritzker Architecture Prize Citation for 2013 – Toyo Ito

Pritzker Prize 2012 won by architect Wang Shu

Pritzker Prize 2012 winner : Wang Shu

Pritzker Prize 2011 won by architect Eduardo Souto de Moura

Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate 2011 : Citation from the Jury + The Jury + Eduardo Souto de Moura information

Pritzker Prize 2010 winner : Eduardo Souto de Moura

Pritzker Prize 2010 won by architects SANAA SANAA, architects

Pritzker Prize 2009 won by architect Peter Zumthor Peter Zumthor

Zaha Hadid architect : Pritzker Architecture Prize Jury member

SANAA, architects

Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate 2010 Citation + The Jury

Key Architecture Awards

Stirling Prize

Mies van der Rohe Awards

World Architecture Festival Awards

AR Awards for Emerging Architecture

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