Hasta La Ideas

On a more positive note about an architect, just days after Zaha Hadid finally won herself a Stirling Prize, the Royal Institute of British Architects, along with the Queen of England, handed out an award that gets much less fanfare but is equally as respected, the Royal Gold Medal. This year’s winner is David Chipperfield, who won the Stirling last year and had met with the Queen back in January when he was knighted. The Guardian‘s Jonathan Glancey brings up the fact that this latest award comes packaged in some irony, given that the architect has had a somewhat contentious relationship over the years with building on his native soil, seemingly preferring to work elsewhere in Europe or the States (he also doesn’t like people taking photos of his buildings, but we already talked about that last year). Here’s a bit from Glancey:

“The big difference between working in Britain and Europe,” he once told me, “is that here you are not really expected to debate ideas. Money and marketing are what matter most. We live in an events culture in the UK. Architecture, arts and media are all increasingly driven by events agendas. Ideas are only valid if they fit into media schedules. Original debate has been overwhelmed.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.