Recognized as the UK’s highest honor for architecture, the RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture is approved personally by Her Majesty The Queen and is given to a person or group of people who have had a significant influence "either directly or indirectly on the advancement of architecture.", according to the organization. In 2024, the recognition was awarded for the first time to an African Woman, to the Ghanaian-Scottish architect, academic, and curator Lesley Lokko.
The RIBA Royal Gold Medal is practically an institution unto itself, having been awarded since 1848. Previous notable recipients include Pritzker Prize laurates Grafton Architects (2020 edition), Zaha Hadid (2016), Peter Zumthor (2013), and Norman Foster (1983). Since 1980, five women have won the RIBA Royal Gold Medal: Patricia Hopkins, Sheila O'Donnell, Zaha Hadid, and Grafton Architects founders Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara.
These are the RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture winners since 1980:
1980 James Stirling, UK
1981 Philip Dowson, UK
1982 Berthold Lubetkin, Russia
1983 Norman Foster, UK
1984 Charles Correa, India
1985 Richard Rogers, UK
1986 Arata Isozaki, Japan
1987 Ralph Erskine, UK
1988 Richard Meier, USA
1989 Renzo Piano, Italy
1990 Aldo van Eyck, The Netherlands
1991 Colin Stansfield Smith, UK
1992 Peter Rice, Ireland
1993 Giancarlo de Carlo, Italy
1994 Michael Hopkins and Patricia Hopkins, UK
1995 Colin Rowe, UK
1996 Harry Seidler, Australia
1997 Tadao Ando, Japan
1998 Oscar Niemeyer, Brazil
1999 City of Barcelona
2000 Frank Gehry, USA
2001 Jean Nouvel, France
2002 Archigram, UK
2003 Rafael Moneo, Spain
2004 Rem Koolhaas, Netherlands
2005 Frei Otto, Germany
2006 Toyo Ito, Japan
2007 Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, Switzerland
2008 Edward Cullinan, UK
2009 Álvaro Siza, Portugal
2010 I.M. Pei, China/USA
2011 David Chipperfield, UK
2012 Herman Hertzberger, Netherlands
2013 Peter Zumthor, Switzerland
2014 Joseph Rykwert, UK
2015 Sheila O’Donnell and John Tuomey, Ireland
2016 Zaha Hadid, UK
2017 Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Brazil
2018 Neave Brown, UK
2019 Nicholas Grimshaw, UK
2020 Grafton Architects, Ireland
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