On 31 May 2004, the 2004 Pritzker Prize was presented to Zaha Hadid (Great Britain) at a festive awards ceremony held in the State Hermitage.

The Pritzker Architecture Prize, like the Nobel Prize, is awarded each year to an architect who has made a significant contribution to the development of modern architecture. Winners of past years from 15 countries around the world have represented very different currents and tendencies. This year’s winner of the Pritzker Prize is Zaha Hadid (Great Britain), who is well known for projects that are inspired by the radical art of the Russian Avantgarde. The ideas of Malevich and El Lisitsky lay at the basis of his diploma work. Later he often looked to forms and images from the revolutionary aesthetics of Russia in the 1920’s.

"Great historical events live on for a time in our imagination only because they have been captured in architectural monuments. Few among us have read the literary works which have come down to us from Ancient Egypt. Nonetheless, it appears to us that we are no less familiar with people from that distant age than we are with our own ancestors. And for this we are indebted solely to the sculpture and architecture which they created. Those of us who are not indifferent to the environment in which we live should appreciate the significance of the Pritzker Prize for Architecture, which has as its goal to draw the public’s attention to this field of human endeavor by which future generations will judge our civilization." With these words the well known art historian and author of the book Civilization, the late Lord Clark of Saltwood characterized the Pritzker Prize.

According to tradition, the country and venue for holding the awards ceremony change every year. This year the organizers selected St Petersburg as the venue; they also chose a woman as the prize winner for the first time – Zaha Hadid of Great Britain.

Chairman of the jury of the Pritzker Prize Lord Rothschild said: "We are especially pleased that the awards ceremony for the highest international architectural award is taking place in this city of St Petersburg, a city that has been famous for its unique beauty ever since it was founded 300 years ago."

President of the Hyatt Foundation Thomas Pritzker said: "We recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Prize. This is nothing compared to the great history of St Petersburg. We consider it our mission to honor architects during their lifetime so that with the passing of years their names will not be forgotten as happened unfortunately with many creators of the great achievements in world architecture in the past. We express our appreciation to Professor Piotrovsky for his invitation to hold the 2004 awards ceremony in the State Hermitage. Over time the places where we hold these ceremonies will become a pathway through the great architectural monuments of the world."

The cast-bronze medal which is given to winners of the Pritzker Prize was designed by the celebrated Chicago architect Louis Sullivan, who is known as the father of the skyscraper. The front side of the medal shows the name of the prize; the reverse carries the inscription "durability, utility, and beauty," taken an ancient Roman treatise which states: "The final goal of an architect is a good structure. A good structure assumes three conditions are satisfied: utility, durability and beauty."

The awards ceremony was held in the Hermitage Theater. Among the participants in the ceremony were RF Minister of Culture A.S. Sokolov, Director of the State Hermitage Mikhail Piotrovsky, 2004 prize winner Zaha Hadid, founder of the prize and President of the Hyatt Foundation Thomas Pritzker, Chairman of the Jury Lord Rothschild, prize winners from years past, and jury members.

Zaha Hadid was born in Iraq in 1950. She studied mathematics in the American University, Beirut. From 1972 to 1977, she studied at the Architectural Association in London. Upon completing her university studies, she worked in the Office of Metropolitan Architecture under the direction of Rem Koolhaas. In 1972 she opened her own design studio in London. She won a number of international design competitions, including the project for a club atop a mountain in Hong Kong (1983), the opera house in Cardiff (1994), an inhabited bridge over the Thames (1996), centers of contemporary art in Cincinnati, Ohio (1988) and in Rome (1999), a research center in Wolfsburg (2000), an extension of the Ordrupgaard Museum in Copenhagen (2001), and the BMW automobile center in Leipzig (2002).

Her best known structures are: the Vitra Fire House in Weil-am-Rhein, Germany (1993-1999), the Mind Zone in the Millennium Dome (1999), the Terminal and Car Park on the outskirts of Strasbourg (2001), and the Bergisel Ski-jump in Innsbruck, Austria (2002). She did the interior design for the Moonsoon Restaurant in Sapporo (1990), the design of furniture and silver tableware for Sawaya & Moroni, the lay-out of the exhibition entitled “Great Utopia” in the Guggenheim Museum, New York (1992), and she was artistic director for the world tour of the Pet Shop Boys (1999-2000).

On 1 June 2004 the winner of the 2004 Pritzker Prize, Zaha Hadid, will deliver a lecture in the Hermitage Theater at 15.00. The St Petersburg telecommunications company Golden Telecom will provide a live broadcast of the Pritzker Prize awards ceremony for viewing on the site www.pritzkerprize.com. The Pritzker Prize and the State Hermitage will make available video and photo materials of the event free of charge.

At the press conference in Hotel Angleterre

At the awards ceremony

Zaha Hadid