Obayashi Prize
Presents awards to those who post outstanding achievements in scholarly research and other activities related to cities
Recipient of Obayashi Prize
-
Recipient of the Thirteenth Obayashi Prize(2024)
Ms. Martha Argerich
Ms. Kyoko Ito
The Argerich Arts FoundationThe 13th Obayashi Prize has been jointly awarded to Ms.Martha Argerich, Ms.Kyoko Ito, and the Argerich Arts Foundation for their contributions to society and community advancement through the Music Festival Argerich’s Meeting Point in Beppu.
-
Recipient of the Twelfth Obayashi Prize (2022)
Audrey TANGAs Taiwan's Digital Minister, Audrey Tang has contributed to digitalization and IT policy in many ways, most notably by leading the development of the Mask Map app, which displayed the latest information on stocks of government-supplied face masks on Google Maps and enabled equal access to a limited supply of masks at the stage of the coronavirus pandemic when Taiwan was experiencing a serious shortage of masks.
-
Recipient of the Eleventh Obayashi Prize (2020)
Mr.Olafur ELIASSONWith a firm belief that art and design have the power to change the world, Olafur Eliasson has been creating awareness-shifting experiences, which in turn, have inspired people to take concrete actions to resolve urgent urban issues, such as the issues of the environment and poverty. The Obayashi Prize commends Mr. ELIASSON for such exceptional achievements through his creative activities and various remarks he has made over the years.
-
Recipient of the Tenth Obayashi Prize (2018)
Mr.Jack LANGAs a student at Nancy-Université, Mr. Lang was a member of the group that established the Nancy Theatre Festival, the precursor of today’s World Theatre Festival at Nancy, creating the opportunity for Nancy to leap onto the world stage as a city of culture and arts. As Minister of Culture under President François Mitterrand, he swept away barriers between high and low art to give genres such as circus, photography, popular music, fashion, and design access to the same kind of government support available to conventional arts. His legacy as minister also included other bold cultural policy reforms such as the launch of the Centre National des Arts du Cirque and the Fête de la Musique, transfer of culture budgets to regional authorities, and other devolution initiatives. Moreover, he took overall charge of French Revolution bicentennial celebrations and led the successful implementation of a series of “grands projets” including construction of the glass pyramid at the Musée du Louvre and the Grande Arche de la Défense.
-
Recipient of the Ninth Obayashi Prize (2016)
Mr.Alejandro ECHEVERRIProfessor Alejandro Echeverri played a central role in a bold public program to regenerate the city of Medellin, Colombia, which was then known as the most dangerous city in the world, with slums occupying 70 percent of the urban area, and a homicide rate of 381 per 100,000 inhabitants. The program, which was implemented between 2004 and 2008 by Sergio Fajardo, the city’s mayor at the time, set out to improve opportunities for education as a key to reviving the city, and sought to apply the philosophy that the most beautiful buildings must be in the city’s poorest areas, in order to inspire hope and develop a sense of community in areas of the city that had long been treated as a lost cause. As the city’s director of urban projects, Professor Echeverri demonstrated great insight as an architect and outstanding leadership in the pursuit of various initiatives, including the construction of cable cars and outdoor escalators to connect the slum areas with the city metro system, and the development of five library parks, museums, and other facilities in the impoverished areas by distinguished architects. These new facilities provide the residents of the impoverished neighborhoods with places and opportunities to learn, while the improved access to and from the city center has both increased their opportunities for employment and helped to ensure that residents from other districts and tourists also visit such neighborhoods. These projects contributed significantly to reforming and reviving Medellin by resolving issues of poverty and conflict, fostering a sense of community among local residents, and curbing crime.
-
Recipient of the Eighth Obayashi Prize (2014)
Ms.Kathryn GUSTAFSONDuring her career Ms. Kathryn Gustafson has contributed numerous works to the world of landscape architecture. By perceptively reading the ecological, cultural, and historical attributes of the land and sculpting spaces that evoke a sense of unity with the site, her works let those who gather there feel physically and spiritually at one with the land, promoting integration of people and space and creating places that enrich our lives. The key to her skill lies in making the most of the special allure of the land to craft a new place, rather than simply continuing to remodel spaces with no regard to what has gone before.
-
Recipient of the Seventh Obayashi Prize (2012)
Mr.Antony GORMLEYAntony Gormley is a British sculptor born in London in 1950. As his biography shows, his work is acclaimed around the world, and he continues to create new sculptures. From an urban planning perspective, his most notable work is Angel of the North, erected in the Newcastle Gateshead area. The local economies of these Tyneside cities long relied on heavy industry, but the decline of coal mining in England brought an economic downturn and triggered efforts to revive the area through the creation of new industries.
-
Recipient of the Sixth Obayashi Prize (2010)
Mr.ZHOU GanzhiProf. Zhou Ganzhi graduated from the Department of Architecture of Tsinghua University in 1951, just two years after the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. Prof. Zhou has devoted himself to urban planning projects for the almost sixty years since then. He was in charge of the selection of factory construction sites and urban planning and design for China's First Five-year Plan. He headed the planning of the Post-quake Reconstruction Plans for Tianjin and Tangshan Cities. He implemented the City Master Plan of Shenzhen for twenty years starting immediately after China's economic reforms came into force at the end of 1978. Prof. Zhou was involved in the City Master Plans and the Detailed Plans for such cities as Shanghai and Suzhou-the first such plans after the founding of the PRC. It is also noteworthy that Prof. Zhou was one of the key figures in the drafting of China's first Urban Planning Act, which is still in use today.
-
Recipient of the Fifth Obayashi Prize (2008)
Mr.Mark LEVINEMr. LEVINE has been involved in research on the environment and energy for many years. He has made a particularly important contribution to the development of research of technologies for improving energy efficiency in the field of architecture, indoor air quality technologies, and clean energy technologies such as advanced batteries and low NOx combustion. He has been an active member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was awarded the Nobel Prize last year, serving as lead author of chapters on mitigation technologies in the second to fourth IPCC Assessment Reports. He has also served on the energy and environment committees of American and Asian non-profit organizations and played a leading role in having their recommendations incorporated in national policies.
-
Recipient of the Fourth Obayashi Prize (2006)
Mr.Karl GANSERAmidst the global shift in industrial setup that began in the 1960s, the Ruhr industrial region of Germany experienced a decline in its coal and steel industries. This was coupled with rapid environmental destruction and the emergence of serious social issues such as loss of employment opportunities and a decreasing population.
-
Recipient of the Third Obayashi Prize (2004)
Mr.Germain VIATTEWhen considering urban planning, what has been attracting the most attention recently is not simply the pursuit of functionality and convenience, but the development of cities that instill clear awareness of their existence, inspire creativity, and bring about intellectual stimulation and satisfaction. Culture and arts are significant in such respect, and great expectations have been placed on museums to play important roles in this connection. Mr. Viatte proved the power of museums through his pioneering works at the Center Georges Pompidou in Paris, for which he gained international acclaim. Furthermore, in developing museums in Marseilles, he illustrated how museums function as important parts of the infrastructure for the development of a city by masterfully realizing urban renewal based on harnessing regional characteristics. Mr. Viatte's concepts and methods, which are seen as constituting a museum revolution, continue to exert significant influence on numerous architects and urban researchers.
-
Recipient of the Second Obayashi Prize (2002)
Mr.Paul KRUGMANFor some time now, economic globalization and the emergence of a borderless economy have been topics of discussion, and with the complex intermingling of cities, regions, and governments, the global economy is being transformed at various levels. Given such situation, Dr. Krugman has focused on the phenomena of the geographical concentration, clustering, and distribution of economic activities. He considers the occurrence of such phenomena to be inevitable and based on rules, attributes them to certain complex factors, and has developed a mathematical economic model treating the same. This is known as the "new spatial economics," and it has attracted the attention of economists around the world. The field is even now continuing to evolve and develop. Dr. Krugman's research is expected to contribute significantly to the development of international aspects of regional economic systems and economic policy planning involving numerous countries, and is not limited to the urban or regional economies of a single country. At the same time, his research offers significant clues for solving the problems facing urban areas.
-
Recipient of the First Obayashi Prize (2000)
Mr.Vann MOLYVANNAs an architect and a senior government official of Cambodia, Mr. Molyvann has been involved in urban planning and renewal, in addition to the construction of numerous public facilities. Among the leading landmarks that he has designed are the Independence Monument, the State Guest House at Chamcar Mon, the Chakdomuk conference hall, and the Council of Ministers Building. Mr. Molyvann has also worked on numerous urban development programs in Asian and African countries, including the development of the site and surroundings of the National Olympic Stadium and Sports Complex and the master plan for the urban renewal of Phnom Penh. He has a remarkable track record in this field.