October 2, 2008
Renzo Piano has been awarded the Sonning Prize, one of the most prestigious cultural acknowledgements of Denmark. Instituted by author and publisher C.J. Sonning, the prize is awarded by the University of Copenhagen to a person who has contributed, with his work, to promoting European culture.
The prize was awarded for the first time in 1950 to Sir Winston Churchill, and since then has been assigned 30 times more to various personalities in different areas of the world of culture. Awardees include philosophers Bertrand Russell and Karl Popper, actors Sir Laurence Olivier and Dario Fo, directors Ingmar Bergman and Krzysztof Kieslowski, writer Simone de Beauvoir.
To date, only two other architects have been awarded this prestigious acknowledgement: Alvar Aalto in 1962 and Jørn Utzon in 1998.
The Sonning Prize, which amounts to 1,000,000 Danish crowns (approximately 134,000 euros), was presented to Renzo Piano in the Ceremony Hall of the University of Copenhagen.