Glenn Murcutt AO is often referred to as Australia's most famous architect. Murcutt's motto, 'touch the earth lightly', leads him to design his works to fit into the Australian landscape. His works are highly economical and multi-functional, and give climatically responsive attention to aspects of the environment such as wind direction, water movement, and light.
His work is internationally acclaimed and he is highly regarded as a teacher, critic, and lecturer around the world. He has been a visiting professor at Yale and Washington universities and many others. Murcutt currently teaches the final programme in B. Arch design studies as a professor at the UNSW Faculty of Built Environment, holding the inaugural Harry Seidler Chair of Practice.
Prestigious awards include: American Institute of Architects Gold Medal 2009; Kenneth F. Brown Asia Pacific Culture and Architecture Award 2003; Pritzker Architecture Prize 2002; Thomas Jefferson Medal for Architecture 2001; 'Green Pin' Award for Architecture and Environment from the Royal Danish Academy of Architects 1999; Richard Neutra Award for Teaching 1998; Officer of the Order of Australia AO 1996; Alvar Aalto Medal from the Finnish Association of Architects, and the Gold Medal of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects 1992.
