Zaha Hadid receives Praemium Imperiale

Zaha Hadid
Source: www.praemiumimperiale.org

The renowned architect Zaha Hadid has been announced winner of the prestigous Praemium Imperiale Award in the category of Architecture. The international award is distributed by the Japan Art Association in five categories.

The Praemium Imperiale awards artists for their achievements, for the impact they have had internationally on the arts, and for their role in enriching the global community. Each recipient receives 15 million yen (c. $158,000), and a diploma and medal presented by honorary patron of the Japan Art Association Prince Hitachi in an awards ceremony in Tokyo. The awards ceremony will be held in Tokyo on 22 October 2009.

The Praemium Imperiale is an annual award given by the Japan Art Association for global achievement in the arts. Since its beginning in 1989, the award has become a mark of the highest international distinction. The 2009 laureates join a roster of 104 artists, including Ingmar Bergman, Leonard Bernstein, Peter Brook, Anthony Caro, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Norman Foster, Frank Gehry, Jean-Luc Godard, David Hockney, Willem de Kooning, Akira Kurosawa, Renzo Piano, Robert Rauschenberg, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Ravi Shankar.

International Advisors to the Japan Art Association chair nomination committees and propose candidates for the annual awards. Japan Art Association selection committees make final selections. International Advisors include several prominent statesmen and business leaders: Lamberto Dini, Otto Graf Lambsdorff, William H. Luers, François Pinault and Yasuhiro Nakasone. Honorary Advisors are Jacques Chirac, David Rockefeller, David Rockefeller, Jr., Helmut Schmidt and Richard von Weizsäcker.

About Zaha Hadid
Zaha Hadid was born in Baghdad, Iraq and decided on a career in architecture at the age of 11. After studying architecture in London, she established her own practice there at the age of 30. In the past, she was said to be famous not for the buildings she had built, but for the ones she had not built. However, in recent years her original and idiosyncratic vision has brought her increasing recognition. She has gone from success to success with major projects, starting in 1994 with her first public commission, Vitra Fire Station in Germany. In 2004, she became the first woman awarded the Pritzker Prize, known as the Nobel for architecture. Hadid’s works are characterized by fluid, dynamic exteriors, interweaving geometric curves, straight lines and sharp angles. Her ongoing works include London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympics and high-profile projects in the Middle East and Europe as well as in countries like China, Taiwan and Russia. She also designs furniture and interiors, and in Japan she made interior designs for a restaurant in Sapporo and a boutique in Tokyo.

The other winners of the 2009 Praemium Imperiale
The recipients of the 21st Praemium Imperiale in the other categories are as follows: Sugimoto Hiroshi becomes Painting Laureate, Richard Long becomes Sculpture Laureate, Alfred Brendel becomes Music Laureate and Tom Stoppard becomes Theater / Film Laureate. The 2009 Grant for young artists was awarded to Kremerata Baltica, a chamber orchestra that brings together top young musical talents of the Baltic States of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

Further Information:
web: www.praemiumimperiale.org