Richard Rogers wins the ULI 2015 J.C. Nichols Prize

Pritzker Prize laureate Richard Rogers was named as the 2015 winner of the J.C. Nichols Prize, as announced by the Urban Land Institute today. Named after founding ULI member and developer J.C. Nichols, the prestigious prize honors an individual (or an individual representing an institution) who has demonstrated a longtime dedication to creating communities that represent top-notch standards of design and development.

From housing and civic projects to transit hubs and master plans, Rogers has designed or overseen more than 150 projects throughout Europe that focus on community building. Most recently, he was appointed as chair of the Grand Jury for RIBA's new International Prize.

Rogers will be presented with the prize during an event at the ULI Europe Conference in Paris on February 2-3.

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As the 16th recipient of the Nichols Prize, Rogers is being recognized for "his career-long focus on creating sustainable communities that thrive by providing a high quality of life for all citizens. His emphasis on design that complements and enhances day-to-day living in urban areas is reflected in his 53 years of work as an architect and in his role as an urban design adviser to numerous public officials, including service as chairman of the British government’s Urban Task Force from 1998 to 2000."

'Achieving an urban renaissance is about creating the quality of life and vitality that make urban living desirable. The compact city is the only environmentally sustainable way to live in an urbanizing world. We must bring about a change in urban attitudes so that towns and cities become and remain attractive places in which to live, work, and socialize,' Rogers said in a statement.

'Richard’s work, whether it is architecture or advocacy, shines a spotlight on the challenges that people in urban areas are facing and offers solutions that can be implemented,' says 2015 Nichols Prize Jury Chairman Marilyn Taylor, Dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Design in Philadelphia and a former ULI Chairman. 'Living well in cities and extending that sense of wellness to everyone – those are the impacts that Richard is making with his words, his advocacy and his work. His impact is as much about how he has affected public policy as in the buildings he has built. Better ideas about housing, or about how public space meets a building – that’s where Richard’s contribution is.'