Japan's preeminent art and architecture prize, the Praemium Imperiale, today announced the newest round of laureates with the award in the Architecture category going to Tod Williams and Billie Tsien this year.
Established in 1986, the New York-based practice Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects has gained international recognition through their thoughtful and materiality-focused approach towards mostly public and institutional projects, such as the American Folk Art Museum (R.I.P.), the Barnes Foundation, the LeFrak Center at Lakeside, and more recently, their competition-winning design for the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.
"No matter the complexity or size of project," praises the Japan Art Association's laureates description for Williams and Tsien, "their values remain intact and their pursuit of leaving good marks on the earth and transcending expectations is unwavering."
The list of previous Praemium Imperiale award winners in the Architecture category includes Kenzo Tange, Tadao Ando, Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry, Norman Foster, Alvaro Siza, David Chipperfield, Peter Zumthor, Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, and more recently, Christian de Portzamparc, Rafael Moneo, Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Dominique Perrault, and Steven Holl.
Prizes in other creative categories went to William Kentridge (South Africa) for Painting, Mona Hatoum (UK) for Sculpture, Anne-Sophie Mutter (Germany) for Music, and Japanese kabuki actor Bando Tamasaburo in the Theater/Film category.
An awards ceremony will be held in Tokyo on October 16 where each laureate will be presented with a medal by Japanese Prince Hitachi along with a testimonial letter and a honorarium of 15 million Yen ($140,000).
2 Comments
If Williams Tsien are the Mr. and Mrs. Incredible of architecture, Bjarke Ingels must surely be Syndrome. I will take the Incredibles any day of the week.
Curious though, given that this firm is known for articulating interior spaces first, all of the selected images are of exteriors.
They are just the best. The best ever.
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