The richly endowed "Praemium Imperiale", considered the "Nobel Prize for Art", is awarded to artists in the categories of architecture, painting, sculpture, film/theatre and music for their life’s work. Inaugurated in 1989 at the instigation of the Japanese imperial family, the prize awards the winner in each category the sum of 15 million yen (roughly 94,500 euros). This year’s laureates include Daniel Barenboim, Chief Conductor of the Staatskapelle Berlin and musical director of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, as well as the French painter Daniel Buren. The formal award ceremony will be held on October 16, 2007 in Tokyo.
In the Architecture category, this year’s prize goes to the Swiss architect duo Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron. Born in Basle, the two teamed up after taking their degrees at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technoloy Zurich (ETH). In 1978 they opened their own architectural practice, Herzog & de Meuron. Today they have branch offices in Munich, Barcelona, San Francisco and Tokyo and employ a total staff of 220. Besides their work in their offices, Herzog and de Meuron hold chairs in Zurich and at Harvard.
Top art award for Allianz Arena architects
Prize-winning projects
The two 57 year-old architects made their international breakthrough with the extension to the Tate Modern museum in London. One of their biggest projects to date is the Allianz Arena in Munich, which opened nearly two and half years ago and meanwhile enjoys considerable prestige far beyond Germany’s borders. Herzog and de Meuron also designed the National Stadium in Peking for the 2008 Olympics. In the planning stage is the tallest building in Switzerland, designed to resemble a double helix.
The duo was already awarded the prestigious Pritzker Prize in 2001. The jury particularly praised their "passion for using the enduring palette of brick, stone, glass and steel toexpress new solutions in new forms." In 2006 they received the "British Design Award", conferred by the Royal Institute of British Architects.