Thursday, 5th October 2006 (2634 views)

Swiss architectural duo Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron have scooped the prestigious Royal Gold Medal for Architecture for 2007.

Bestowed personally on the pair by the Queen on behalf of the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba), the gold accolade is awarded annually to a group or individual in recognition of a lifetime's achievement.

Herzog and de Meuron are best known in the UK for converting London's Bankside power station into the Tate Modern art gallery and recently designed the Allianz Arena in Munich, home to both Bayern Munich and Munich 1860 football clubs.

The ring-shaped stadium changes colour depending on which team is at home on each match day or night.

"They reinvent everything with each new project and do it with such vigour," commented Riba president Jack Pringle. "As teachers their influence on the current and future generations of architects is huge."

The Royal Gold Medal was first presented in 1848 to Charles Robert Cockerell and has since been won by the world's most influential architects, including Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier and Sir Norman Foster.

In 1999, Riba bestowed the award on the city of Barcelona for its contribution to international architecture. Last year, Japanese designer Toyo Ito received the gold medal.

 

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