MG
15th February 2002, 08:10 AM
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_520790.html?menu=news.quirkies
A group of British architects who have never built a building together have won the world's most prestigious architecture award.
Archigram, established in 1961 to challenge accepted views on architecture, has won the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture.
They designed flying saucer-shaped buildings set high above ground on stilts and connected by walkways.
The Times says the group took its name from an amalgam of the words 'architecture' and 'telegram'.
Their inspiration came from the space race, the underwater village built by Jacques Cousteau in the Red Sea and from oil rigs.
Paul Hyett, president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, said: "The work of Archigram reflects a freshness, a courage and a creativity that is simply mind-blowing. Those guys started in the days of the mini-car, mini-skirt and the dawn of a mini-technology and still dazzle today."
The group also tried to imagine future lifestyles and designs. In the Plug-in City, the car became part of the home. The Cushicle idea involved a suit of clothes which could be inflated into a home.
Their ideas influenced Lord Rogers of Riverside in his design of the Pompidou Centre in Paris, and on Lord Foster of Thames Bank, for the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank headquarters in Hong Kong.
The medal, which is approved by the Queen, is made annually to a person or group whose body of work has promoted the advancement of architecture. Previous winners include Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier and in 2000 the American architect Frank Gehry, who designed the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.
Although other awards carry large cash prizes, the medal remains the most prestigious. It is the oldest such award and was first made in 1848.
A group of British architects who have never built a building together have won the world's most prestigious architecture award.
Archigram, established in 1961 to challenge accepted views on architecture, has won the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture.
They designed flying saucer-shaped buildings set high above ground on stilts and connected by walkways.
The Times says the group took its name from an amalgam of the words 'architecture' and 'telegram'.
Their inspiration came from the space race, the underwater village built by Jacques Cousteau in the Red Sea and from oil rigs.
Paul Hyett, president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, said: "The work of Archigram reflects a freshness, a courage and a creativity that is simply mind-blowing. Those guys started in the days of the mini-car, mini-skirt and the dawn of a mini-technology and still dazzle today."
The group also tried to imagine future lifestyles and designs. In the Plug-in City, the car became part of the home. The Cushicle idea involved a suit of clothes which could be inflated into a home.
Their ideas influenced Lord Rogers of Riverside in his design of the Pompidou Centre in Paris, and on Lord Foster of Thames Bank, for the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank headquarters in Hong Kong.
The medal, which is approved by the Queen, is made annually to a person or group whose body of work has promoted the advancement of architecture. Previous winners include Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier and in 2000 the American architect Frank Gehry, who designed the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.
Although other awards carry large cash prizes, the medal remains the most prestigious. It is the oldest such award and was first made in 1848.