The Pritzker Architecture Prize — the highest honor in the field — has been awarded to British architect and urban planner David Alan Chipperfield, hailed on Tuesday for “a commitment to an architecture of understated but transformative civic presence.”

Organizers called Chipperfield’s work — more than 100 projects over four decades ranging from cultural, civic and academic buildings to urban planning to residences, and including a recent addition to Berlin’s famed Museum Island complex — “subtle yet powerful, subdued yet elegant.”

“He is a prolific architect who is radical in his restraint,” they said in a statement announcing the 2023 winner, “demonstrating his reverence for history and culture while honoring the preexisting built and natural environments.” They cited his “timeless modern design that confronts climate urgencies, transforms social relationships and reinvigorates cities.”