The prize of the highest architecture honor will be bestowed to Richard Rogers on June 4 at The Banqueting House in London.
Rogers is the fourth laureate to be chosen from the United Kingdom. The first three are James Stirling in 1981, Norman Foster in 1999, and Zaha Hadid in 2004. Richard Rogers is the 31st laureate since the prize was founded in 1979.
The purpose of the Pritzker Architecture Prize is to honor annually a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture. Laureates of the Pritzker Architecture Prize receive a $100,000 grant, a formal citation certificate, and since 1987, a bronze medallion. Prior to that year, a limited edition Henry Moore sculpture was presented to each Laureate.
The bronze medallion awarded to each Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize is based on the designs of Louis H. Sullivan, famed Chicago architect generally acknowledged as the father of the skyscraper. On one side is the name of the prize where the Laureate's name is also inscribed.
The Pritzker Architecture Prize was established by The Hyatt Foundation in 1979 to honor annually a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision, and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture. It has often been described as “architecture’s most prestigious award” or as “the Nobel of architecture.”
The prize takes its name from the Pritzker family, whose international business interests are headquartered in Chicago. They have long been known for their support of educational, social welfare, scientific, medical and cultural activities. Jay A. Pritzker, who founded the prize with his wife, Cindy, died on January 23, 1999. His eldest son, Thomas J. Pritzker has become president of The Hyatt Foundation. In 2004, Chicago celebrated the opening of Millennium Park, in which a music pavilion designed by Pritzker Laureate Frank Gehry was dedicated and named for the founder of the prize. It was in the Jay Pritzker Pavilion that the 2005 awarding ceremony took place.
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