News has reached Latvia that architect Gunnar Birkerts has been nominated for the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal 2013 and stands as on of the final candidates for this prestigious award. It signifies the international recognition and high acclamation for his years of creative work, among them the National Library of Latvia building.
Birkerts’ inclusion amongst the award finalists is a great achievement for the nation to revel in. The American Institute of Architects Gold Medal together with the Pritzker Architecture Prize is the highest professional appraisal in the field of Architecture. It is an acknowledgement of architects, whose work has made a substantial contribution and a lasting legacy in the field of architecture, both theoretical and practicable.
The winner among the three finalists was Thom Mayne (born in 1944), the founder of the Morphosis company, who is also a Pritzker prize winner. The world knows Thom Mayne as the architect for the University of Toronto, University of Cincinnati, Pomona College, San Francisco Federal Building and the Giant Group Campus in Shanghai.
The US-based Latvian architect Gunnar Birkerts, who actively follows the daily construction proceedings of his designed ‘Gaismas Pils’(‘Castle of Light’), speaks on his own nomination for the International Award, thus: ‘I feel honoured by the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal nomination. It is the assessment and decision of superior architectural professionals and academics, who have appreciated my contribution to the progress of modern architecture and the education of young architects. I am most grateful for this honour.’
Images portray the new National Library of Latvia building and Gunnar Birkerts.
Photo credit: Jānis Dripe
