The winner of the annual Pritzker Prize for architecture was announced this week. SANAA, a Japanese firm known for buildings that draw external elements into the built environment, received the prize this year. I first heard of SANAA when the New Museum opened in New York.

If there is a tie that binds their buildings, it must be the white or clear exteriors, as evidenced by an altogether different building to the New Museum, the Rolex Learning Center.