Tamedia building architect gets Pritzker prize
Japanese star architect Shigeru Ban, who has designed various buildings in Switzerland, including the Tamedia office in Zurich, has been awarded the 2014 Pritzker prize, regarded as the world’s top architecture award.
The Tamedia building, of timber and glass – housing one of Switzerland’s leading newspaper publishers – opened in 2013.
Ban has also designed the new headquarters for the Swatch Group in the western Swiss town of Biel. Building is due to start on it this year. He is also responsible for the Swatch building in Tokyo.
The Pritzker award is worth $100,000 (CHF88,000). It will be presented to Ban in Amsterdam in June.
Ban, who has offices in Tokyo, Paris and New York, was praised by the Pritzker foundation for his creative use of unconventional materials and his humanitarian efforts. He is particularly famous for his use of paper, including recycled cardboard tubes, which have been used for the rapid construction of emergency housing for disaster victims.
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