Portuguese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura has been named the architecture laureate for this year’s Praemium Imperiale awards by the Japan Art Association.

The 72-year-old architect Souto de Moura was awarded the Praemium Imperiale 2025 for architecture for creating work that “resonates with its time”.

“He is known for his belief that ‘there is no universal architecture; everything is rooted in its own place’, and he consistently creates work that resonates with its time and context,” the Japan Art Association said.

“He carefully selects materials with attention to local traditions and culture.”

Eduardo Souto de Moura’s key projects include the Paula Rego Museum. Photo by Luis Ferreira Alves, courtesy of Souto de Moura Arquitectos

Souto de Moura was born in Portugal in 1952 and established his studio in 1980. He has often worked with architect Álvaro Siza, who won the Praemium Imperiale in 1998.

Notable projects by Souto de Moura include the Paula Rego Museum, completed in 2009, and the Estádio Municipal de Braga from 2003.

Estádio Municipal de Braga has canopy-style roofs connected by steel springs. Photo by Shun Kambe, courtesy of the Japan Art Association

More recently, Souto de Moura has created a cultural centre in Viana do Castelo, Portugal, which was designed to look more like a machine than a building.

Together with Siza, he renovated a museum at a historic Portuguese monastery, while also adding a contemporary sculpture museum.

Other recent projects include a large cork chair designed for the City Cortex program in Lisbon, a watch with a rotated face for optimal visibility and a Bruges exhibition hall designed with Belgian studio Meta.

The Japan Art Association praised Souto de Moura’s work in drawing attention to the importance of ecological awareness.

“He believes that the most pressing need for architecture today is to solve current problems, highlighting the importance of ecological awareness and the intelligence and culture necessary to address it,” the Japan Art Association said.

Souto de Moura has often worked with Álvaro Siza, left. Photo by Juan Rodriguez, courtesy of Souto de Moura Arquitectos

Souto de Moura will receive an honorarium of 15 million yen (£77,000) as the winner of the architecture award, which is given out annually by the Japan Art Association under the patronage of Prince Hitachi, younger brother to the Emperor Emeritus of Japan.

He has been given a number of other prestigious awards throughout his career, including the Pritzker Prize in 2011, the Golden Lion at Venice Architecture Biennale in 2018 and the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres last year.

His recent projects include an exhibition hall in Bruges. Photo by Filip Dujardin, courtesy of Souto de Moura Arquitectos

The Praemium Imperiale is an annual global arts prize that celebrates creatives in the fields of architecture, painting, sculpture, music, theatre and film.

Previous winners of the architecture award include Shigeru Ban, Zaha Hadid, Glenn Murcutt, Frank Gehry and Tod Williams and Billie Tsien.

The other Praemium Imperiale 2025 winners, each of which will receive 15 million yen, were artist Peter Doig for painting, artist Marina Abramović for sculpture, pianist András Schiff for music and choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaker for theatre or film.

The 2025 grant for young artists was awarded to the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain.

The main image is by Shun Kambe courtesy of The Japan Art Association.

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