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For his lifetime contribution to Indian and international architecture.

Balkrishna Doshi was born in India in 1927. In 1950 he became a senior designer on Le Corbusier's projects in Ahmedabad and Chandigarh. In 1955 he established Vastu-Shilpa Consultants in Ahmedabad, where he also founded and designed the School of Architecture and Planning. Balkrishna has also been instrumental in establishing the nationally and internationally known research institute Vastu-Shilpa Foundation for Studies and Research in Environmental Design which has done pioneering work in low cost housing and city planning.

His own buildings include the Husain-Doshi Gufa Art Gallery, the Aranya Community Housing scheme and the National Institute of Fashion Technology. He has been a member of the judging panel for several international architecture awards, including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, which was also given to Balkrishna in 1996, and the Pritzker Architecture Prize and is a fellow of the Indian Institute of Architects.

Photograph courtesy of Vastu Shilpa Consultants

For the development and practice of a unique architecture, particularly in the fields of religious and other public buildings.

Juha Leiviskä has enjoyed a distinguished career as one of Finland's leading architects. He studied architecture at Helsinki's University of Technology and after graduating in 1959 began lecturing there on the history of architecture.

His architectural practice dates from 1964 and his best known and most admired work has centred on the design of religious buildings, though he has also worked extensively on public buildings, housing, urban planning and restoration.

Leiviskä was made a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Independent Arts in 1991 and was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal for the Arts in 1992.

In 1994 he was made an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, was awarded the prestigious Carlsberg Prize in 1995, in 1997 followed Alvar Aalto in becoming the architecture Member of the Academy of Finland and in 2003 was made an Honorary Fellow of the Finnish Association of Architects.

Photograph: Yoshihiro Masko

For his pioneering work in sustainable design.

William McDonough is an architect and designer who has received the National Design Award, the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award and the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development. He has been a leader in the sustainable development movement, designing the first solar-heated house in Ireland in 1977 and the first ‘green office’ in the US for the Environmental Defence Fund in 1985. He is founder and principal of two design firms: William McDonough + Partners: Architecture and Community Design and McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC).

A recognized leader in sustainable design and development,. McDonough writes and speaks extensively on his two practices. He holds posts including Consulting Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University and board member for the Management Committee of HRH The Prince of Wales’s Business & The Environment Programme at Cambridge University.

Photograph courtesy of William McDonough + Partners

For their contribution to architecture and design across a broad spectrum.

Mack Scogin and Merrill Elam, the two principals of Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects, have worked together for over thirty years and have made a commitment to direct and personal involvement in the development of their projects, which are diverse in size, type and location. Scogin and Elam’s previous experience at Heery and Heery Architects, working on projects ranging from airports to corporate buildings, combined with their commitment to meeting the needs of clients, helps to distinguish their work.

In addition, Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects carry out work in the field of graphic design, exhibit design, interior design, planning and research. Scogin was Chairman of the Department of Architecture at Harvard University Graduate School of Design from 1990–95, where he continues to teach, while Elam has held visiting professorships at numerous US institutions.

Photograph courtesy of Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects

For his highly influential lifetime contribution to Brazilian architecture.

Paulo Mendes da Rocha works almost exclusively in Brazil and has been producing buildings since 1957, many in concrete, a method some call ‘Brazilian Brutalist’. He has contributed many notable buildings to São Paulo and is widely credited as enhancing and revitalizing the city.

Mendes da Rocha began his career in the 1950s and has devoted it to the creation of buildings and spaces guided by a sense of responsibility towards residents and society as a whole. He has designed at every scale, from furniture and theatre sets to major sports venues and urban districts.

As a professor at the School of Architecture at the University of São Paulo, Mendes da Rocha influenced students with his social and humanistic views but was forced to resign in 1969 by the military dictatorship then governing Brazil. He resumed teaching in 1980 and continued until his retirement in 1999. He was awarded the Pritzker Prize in 2006 and the Mies van der Rohe Prize in 2000.

Photograph courtesy of Paulo Mendes da Rocha

For his inspirational, collaborative work on an international stage.

Yoshio Taniguchi studied engineering at Keio University and architecture at Harvard, going on to work briefly for architect Walter Gropius who became an important influence. From 1964 to 1972 Taniguchi worked for the studio of architect Kenzo Tange at Tokyo University, while subsequent collaborators include American landscape architect Peter Walker and artist Genichiro Inokuma.

Taniguchi has designed a number of Japanese museums, including the Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art, the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, and the Gallery of the Horyu-ji Treasures at the Tokyo National Museum, for which he was awarded an Architectural Institute of Japan Award. He won a competition in 1997 to redesign the Museum of Modern Art in New York, competing against other internationally renowned architects including Rem Koolhaas, Bernard Tschumi, and Herzog & de Meuron. The MoMA commission was Taniguchi's first outside Japan and was completed in 2004.

Taniguchi has since won a commission to design the Asia House for the Texas branch of the Asia Society. He is an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and a Member of the Japan Institute of Architects.

Photograph courtesy of Taniguchi and Associates