Pritzker Prize to Richard Rogers

CHICAGO, March 29 (UPI) -- The Chicago-based board that awards the Pritzker Architecture Prize has chosen London architect Richard Rogers as the recipient of the 2007 award.

Rogers, who designed the Pompidou Center in Paris, the Lloyd's of London office building and other structures, was chosen by an international jury of distinguished architectural figures, the committee said in a released Thursday.

"We celebrate Richard Rogers, a humanist, who reminds us that architecture is the most social of arts," the citation from the Pritzker Prize jury said.

The Pritzker Prize, which was first awarded in 1979, each year celebrates a living architect who produces "consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture."

The award, to be given in ceremonies June 4 in London, includes $100,000 and a bronze medallion.