Mayne wins Pritzker Architecture prize

LOS ANGELES, March 21 (UPI) -- California architect Thom Mayne is the winner of the 2005 Pritzker Architecture Prize, the first American in 14 years to take the coveted prize.

Mayne, whose architectural firm's work celebrates modernity and complexity, was on his way to his Santa Monica, Calif., home to celebrate his birthday when he got the telephone call about the prize, the Washington Post reported Monday.

Mayne learned of the award in January but had to keep it a secret until the official announcement Monday, the Post reported.

"My career has been so much outside the mainstream that I can't help but view (the prize) as a vindication of what I've tried to do," he told the Post in a telephone interview.

The size and prominence of the commissions for Mayne's firm called Morphosis have increased dramatically in the last decade, which include projects in the United States, Europe and Asia, the Post said.

The Pritzker prize and a $100,000 check will be formally presented May 31 at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago's Millennium Park.