British architect Richard Rogers has won the top prize awarded by the American Institute of Architects, a choice backed by his peers Moshe Safdie, Renzo Piano and Deyan Sudjic.
The founding principal of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners has scooped 2019 AIA Gold Medal in recognition of his vast portfolio of major projects, from the Centre Pompidou arts centre in Paris to the recently completed Three World Trade Center skyscraper in New York City.
Rogers, 85, has received most of the industry's major awards during his five-decade-long career – including RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1985, the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2007, and the Stirling Prize in 2006 and 2009. The architect was also named a Praemium Architecture Laureate by the Japan Art Association in 2000, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991. Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners completed the construction of Three World Trade Center in Manhattan earlier this year. Photograph by Joe WoolheadHis missing AIA Gold Medal – which is awarded annually to architects in recognition of their legacy to the field – was described as an "oversight that needs to be remedied" in the AIA Committee on Design's letter supporting his nomination.
Architects Moshe Safdie and Renzo Piano also backed the architect, who known for his modern high-tech architectural design, but celebrated for his focus on social and civic impact – which he described as the architect's responsibility in an...