Norman Foster was awarded the Auguste Perret Prize by the International Union of Architects at the 21st World Congress of Architects in Berlin on 25 July. The Auguste Perret Prize was established in 1961 and is awarded every three years to an architect who has made an outstanding contribution to the application of technology in architecture. Previous recipients of the prize include Jean Prouv (1963), Frei Otto (1967), Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers (1978), Gnter Behnisch (1981), Santiago Calatrava (1993), Thomas Herzog (1996) and Ken Yeang (1999).
Auguste Perret (1874-1954) was a pioneer of modernist architecture and was responsible for elevating reinforced concrete to a highly refined architectural medium. He was a mentor of Le Corbusier and was the first President of the International Union of Architects.
