Tadao Ando,
UIA 2005 Gold Medalist

In creating this medal in 1984, the UIA sought to endow it with a prestige equivalent to that of the Nobel Prize in the fields of art, literature, science and the humanities. This unique distinction ,international and free of any vested interests whatsoever, national or private, is the supreme recognition that an architect can receive from his fellowarchitects. It is awarded during an architect's lifetime, in homage of the realisations and contributions made throughout his career in favour of humanity, society and the promotion of the art of architecture.

Since it creation, the Gold Medal has been awarded successively to:
• Hassan Fathy (Egypt), in 1984;
• Reima Pietila (Finland), in 1987;
• Charles Correa (India), in 1990;
• Fumihiko Maki (Japan), in 1993;
• Rafael Moneo (Spain), in 1996;
• Ricardo Legorreta Vilchis (Mexico), in 1999
• Renzo Piano (Italy), in 2002

The jury for the 2005 Gold Medal met in Shanghai from 18 to 20 April 2005. Presided by Jaime Lerner (Brazil), UIA President, it was composed as follows: Vassilis Sgoutas (Greece) Past President, Jean Claude Riguet (France), Secretary General, Donald J. Hackl (USA) Treasurer, Gaetan Siew (Mauritius), 1 st Vice-President, José Cortes Delgado (Mexico, 2 nd Vice-President, Louise Cox (Australia), Vice-President, Wolf Tochtermann (Germany), Director of the International Competitions Programme and Jordi Farrando (Spain) representing Peter Hanna (Ireland) Vice-President. The jury decided to award the 2005 Gold Medal to the Japanese architect Tadao Ando.

The UIA Gold Medal will be presented to Tadao Ando at a ceremony that will take place in Istanbul, on 6 th July 2005, during the twenty-second UIA Congress.

Tadao Ando was born in Osaka, in 1941. Brought up by his maternal grandmother, he grew up between the fields of the urban periphery and carpenters' workshops where he learned wood working and constructed model aeroplanes and boats.

At the age of 17, following a brief career as a boxer, Tadao Ando decided to become an architect. Self-educated, he visited the Temples of Nara and Kyoto, discovered Le Corbusier, who fascinated him, and then from 1962 to 1969 he travelled in Europe, the United States and Africa. On his return, he founded his own office in Osaka where he designed small houses in wood, interiors and furniture. In 1975, he designed the Sumiyoshi Row House in Osaka, winner of the Japanese Association of Architecture Award. From then on things moved quickly and his reputation grew, both in Japan and around the world where he has been presented with the most prestigious awards. Highly considered by his peers, he teaches at the University of Tokyo.

In 1995, he received the prestigious Pritzker Prize, in the steps of his fellow countrymen Kenzo Tange and Fumihiko Maki. Deeply moved by the Kobe earthquake which, that year, had cruelly damaged the neighbourhood where his early works were located, he donated the prize-money to the city's orphans.

His mastery of construction materials, reinforced concrete to which he gives a silky touch, wood which he uses with virtuosity, glass, water, light, make of him an inspired master of architectural construction and design. The imprint of his expertise and his lyricism may be witnessed in private houses, temples and museums, as well as in ambitious programmes like the renovation of Kobe or vast cultural complexes in the United States.

In the mid 70’s young Tadao Ando emerged dramatically onto the international architectural scene with a tiny little urban row house in Sumiyoshi, Osaka.

He created there a micro-cosmos, a space of extreme simplicity, abstract and rich, through a perfect relationship with the surrounding environment, treated with the greatest concern for detail, and a sensitive building quality in the use of exposed reinforced concrete.

Since then he has been creating the original Ando style of poetic architecture and delivering it to the world with architectural talent and sensitivity regardless of the genre and scale of the projects. Recent accomplishment includes the Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas.

His tireless and powerful passion have been enhancing his ideals through his simple, strong and beautiful architecture as well as on the socio-cultural level, practising throughout the world both as a architect and a teacher. His tremendous contribution to global contemporary architecture, architects and even non-architects , make him, without any doubt, a deserving recipient of the Gold Medal of UIA.

2005 UIA PRIZES

To encourage merit, talent, and actions of international importance, the International Union of Architects awards a number of prizes, on the occasion of the UIA World Congress, every three years.

Each of the four UIA prizes concerns a specific theme and is a tribute to the memory of the Union’s first Presidents:

• Auguste Perret Prize For technology applied to architecture
• Sir Patrick Abercrombie Prize For town-planning or territorial development
• Jean Tschumi Prize For architectural criticism or architectural education
• Sir Robert Matthew Prize For improvement in the quality of human settlements.

Candidatures are submitted by UIA member sections.

The jury for the 2005 session of the UIA prizes met in Shanghai from 18 to 20 April 2005. Presided by Jaime Lerner (Brazil), UIA President, it was composed as follows: Vassilis Sgoutas (Greece) Past President, Jean Claude Riguet (France), Secretary General, Donald J. Hackl (USA) Treasurer, Gaetan Siew (Mauritius), 1 st Vice-President, José Cortes Delgado (Mexico, 2 nd Vice-President, Louise Cox (Australia), Vice-President, Wolf Tochtermann (Germany), Director of the International Competitions Programme and Jordi Farrando (Spain) representing Peter Hanna (Ireland)VicePresident.

Auguste Perret Prize
Werner Sobek, Germany

Sir Patrick Abercrombie Prize
Nuno Portas, Portugal
Mention: Hermann Sträb, Germany

Jean Tschumi Prize
QUADERNS d'arquitectura i urbanisme, Spain, ex-aequo
Peter Davey, United Kingdom, ex-aequo
Mention: Selim Khan-Magomedov, Russia

Sir Robert Matthew Prize
Stefan Forster, Germany, ex-aequo
Xiaodong Wang, China, ex-aequo

2005 AUGUSTE PERRET PRIZE
Werner Sobek is one of the rare successful examples of where the contribution of the architect and the engineer merge into a harmonious symbosis. Sobek is at the forefront of contemporary building technology, exploring all its possibilities with great sensitivity. His highly significant "œuvre" shows outstanding aesthetic qualities.

2005 SIR PATRICK ABERCROMBIE PRIZE
The jury selected Nuno Portas for his outstanding contribution to city planning at key moments in the history of his country where his concern for social welfare has played a major role. His farreaching educational skills have substantially contributed to the dissemination of his innovative approach.

The jury appreciated Hermann Sträb's design work for the social and architectural development for the city of Leinefelde in former Eastern Germany. His environmental and aesthetic concerns as well as the strategies he developed are very convincing and should serve as a model for sustainable programmes in urban complexes undergoing transformation.

2005 JEAN TSCHUMI PRIZE
The jury awarded this prize to QUADERNS Magazine, published by the Col-legi d'Arquitectes de Catalunya, for consistently over the years, and under successively different editorial teams, contributing to the widening of our perception of architecture by providing avant-garde insight into critical aspects of the urban fabric and the built environment.

This prize was awarded by the jury to Peter Davey for his long and distinguished service to architecture in the international arena, his influence on sundry architects and students globally, through his many lectures, critical assessments and publications, especially his editorship of the "Architectural Review" magazine, where his great interest in the relevance of today's multivalent, architectural culture and contemporary practice is always related back to the history and theory of architecture.

Selim Khan-Magomedov is considered today to be an eminent specialist of soviet avant-garde architecture. His research and publications on the history and theory of Russian avant-garde architecture of the first third of the XX century are essential for an understanding of Movements as important as Soviet Constructivism and Realism. His book on the Moscow school of architecture's workshop "Vhutemas" is an unequalled work of reference on this topic.

2005 SIR ROBERT MATTHEW PRIZE
The jury was particularly impressed by the "process" shown in Stefan Forster's work and his contribution to the rehabilitation of the Leinefelde housing estate in Germany. His transformation of existing pre-fabricated housing units into pleasant to live-in and aesthetically very attractive housing, have contributed to the development in this small town in the former GDR of a harmonious and socially convincing urban environment.

Engaged in architectural design for the improvement of human settlements through the integration of the local cultural characteristics for over 40 years now, Xiaodong Wang has participated in numerous projects in China: Uigour mosques, provincial museums, office buildings, theatres. He successfully organised the urban regional planning and its implementation in Urumqi, provincial capital city.

The official presentation to the winners of the 2005 UIA Gold Medal and UIA Prizes will made during a ceremony in Istanbul on 6 July 2005, during the twenty-second UIA Congress.