Essay: Establishment of a new and unprecedented prize of architecture

摘要

To understand this award, one probably needs to know more about Rogelio Salmona, an architect who is relatively unknown in Japan. My first meeting with Salmona was in 2003, at a symposium in Finland on Alvar Aalto. I was there to deliver a lecture, and he was there to receive the prestigious Alvar Aalto Medal. The symposium had a unique theme: "ELEPHANT & butterfly". Elephants live a long time and never forget, unlike butterflies which live only for the dreams of today. The question posed was. which is better? When put this way, an architect has no choice but the former. The value of architecture lies in its permanence, as symbolized by the elephant. The butterfly can probably be seen as the wave of capitalism and IT that is engulfing the world. Salmona was the perfect person to give an answer to this question.