NORMAN FOSTER WINS PRINCIPE DE ASTURIAS PRIZE

Norman Foster, the British architect whose designs include Germany’s Reichstag parliament building, won Spain’s Principe de Asturias arts prize, joining previous winners such as singer Bob Dylan and Woody Allen, reports Bloomberg’s Brian McGee. Foster, who turns seventy-four next month, was awarded the 2009 prize by a jury whose members include Oscar-winning movie director Jose Luis Garci. He beat competition from twenty-six contenders, the Oviedo-based Fundacion Principe de Asturias said in an e-mailed statement today. “His work stands out for the continual commitment to architecture’s most noble values,” the release said. The architect’s firm, Foster and Partners, has worked on the Millau Viaduct in France and HSBC Holdings PLC headquarters in Canary Wharf. Foster was born in 1935 in Manchester. Queen Elizabeth II awarded him a life peerage in 1999, allowing him to become Lord Foster. He also won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1999. The Spanish award will be presented in the autumn. The prize includes $68,330 and the replica of a statue designed by Catalan artist Joan Miró.