ST. PETE HOSTS PRIETZKER GALA

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ST. PETERSBURG, May 31 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is this year's venue of the Prietzker architecture prize awarding gala. This is a landmark event, Alexander Sokolov, federal Minister of Culture and Mass Communications, said before the ceremony at St. Petersburg's State Hermitage Museum.

"Our guests have chosen St. Petersburg for the awarding gala of the world's most highly-sought architectural prize. It is attracting ever greater attention to the city. Its architectural gems are once again in the global limelight."

The event has gathered world-renowned architects in St. Petersburg. The minister hopes their presence will give an impetus to Russian urban progress.

"Heated debates are seething round Russian towns' outlook, the way it will be in the 21st century. St. Petersburg is offering the most delicate and involved problem of all. That is why the impetus we receive from world architecture is of vital interest and importance to us Russians," said Mr. Sokolov.

The awarding ceremony comes not merely as token of St. Petersburg architectural prominence recognised. It brings an opportunity to meet the world's foremost architects, said Mikhail Piotrovsky, Hermitage Museum Director. "We [St. Petersburgers] made it a point to avoid new construction for years. Now, we see, we have to build. What we shall build is of vital importance. The gates to the world of architecture are thrown open to us now, and that matters greatly."

The organisers, too, are aware of the symbolism of the present venue. They make it a point to hold awarding galas in the places whose outlook emphasises their idea of the importance of architecture. St. Petersburg is a city that promises progress, so the chance to gather there was a landmark chance, said Thomas Prietzker, prize founder.

Zaha Hadid, this year's winner, is a British architect of Iraqi ancestry. A woman has never before won the Prietzker prize.

The Prietzker, an architectural analogue of the Nobel award, was established in 1979. It brings a bronze medal and 100,000 US dollars the one deemed the year's best contributor to contemporary architecture. Americans won it on seven occasions, and architects from other countries on twenty one.

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