Frank Gehry Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts 2014

At its meeting in Oviedo, the Jury for the 2014 Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts, made up of Ms Bárbara Allende Gil de Biedma, Mr José Luis Cienfuegos Marcello, Carlos Fitz-James Stuart Martínez de Irujo, Duke of Huéscar, Mr Guillermo García-Alcalde Fernández, Ms Carmen Giménez Martín, Mr Enrique González Macho, Ms Catalina Luca de Tena y García-Conde, Mr Hans Meinke Paege, Ms Elena Ochoa Foster, Ms Benedetta Tagliabue, Ms Patricia Urquiola Hidalgo, Mr Carlos Urroz Arancibia, Mr Miguel Zugaza Miranda, chaired by Mr José Lladó Fernández-Urrutia and with Mr José Antonio Caicoya Cores acting as secretary, has agreed to grant the 2014 Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts to the American architect Frank O. Gehry for the relevance and impact of his creations in numerous countries, via which he has defined and furthered architecture in the past half century.

His buildings are characterized by a virtuoso play of complex shapes, the use of unusual materials, such as titanium, and their technological innovation, which has also had an impact on other arts. An example of this open, playful and organic style of architecture is the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, which, in addition to its architectural and aesthetic excellence, has had an enormous economic, social and urban impact on its surroundings as a whole.

Oviedo, 7th May 2014