Zaha Hadid picks up the coveted award from the Japan Art Association along with a $186,000 prize.
“It is indeed an honour to receive this recognition from the Japan Art Association,” Hadid said.
“Working in Japan has been critical to the development of my work around the world. I will always be grateful for this support early in my career. My Japanese clients shared a passion for architecture - allowing us to investigate many things and design very powerful projects, interesting in their complexity and essential in developing our repertoire of work. Through our architecture, we can enthuse people and make them excited about new ideas.”
The other Praemium Imperiale Laureates for 2009 are: Painting - Hiroshi Sugimoto; Sculpture - Richard Long; Music - Alfred Brendel; Theatre/Film: Tom Stoppard.
Previous laureates include David Hockney, James Stirling, Anthony Caro, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Richard Attenborough, John Gielgud, Peter Brook, Richard Rogers, Tony Cragg, Norman Foster, Bridget Riley and Richard Hamilton.
