Leonardo da Vinci World Award of Arts 2005
Area of Work: Architect
Date: 12 November 2005
Place of Ceremony: Fernando Soler City Theatre
Host Institution: Agricultural Autonomous University of Antonio Narro
Host Country: Saltillo, México
Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico. The World Cultural Council presented the 2005 Leonardo da Vinci World Award of Arts to the Mexican architect Enrique Norten. The Award Ceremony took place at Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico, with the host of Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro.
The Leonardo da Vinci World Award of Arts has been established as a means of acknowledgement to those who endeavour to create different expressions of art. It is conferred on those whose work constitutes a significant contribution to the artistic legacy of the world. Enrique Norten has been selected as the recipient of this award for his valuable contributions in promoting the contemporary Mexican architecture. His creations combine style, intelligence and determination together with fresh and technological superior architecture serving as a great resistance to the hegemonic models from abroad.
He was born in Mexico City in 1954. He received in 1978 his Bachellor of Architecture from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico; in 1980 he received his Masters of Architecture from Cornell University; starting with his professional practice in Mexico City in 1981; founding in 1985 TEN Arquitectos that is dedicated to the creation and investigation of Architecture and Design. Enrique Norten/TEN Arquitectos has been involved in projects of different types and scales including: furniture design, single-family apartments and houses, residential, commercial and cultural buildings, parks, urban design and redevelopment projects. Many of these projects have been honoured with numerous national and international awards.
Enrique Norten also has demonstrated to have skills to be a teacher. He has held the Eero Saarinen Visiting Professor at Yale School of Architecture; Visiting Professor UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design; Miller Chair of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania; O´Neal Ford Chair in Architecture at the University of Texas at Austin; the Lorch Professor of Architecture Chair at the University of Michigan and the Elliot Noyes Visiting Design Critic at Harvard University. He was a Professor of Architecture at the Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City and he has served as a Visiting Professor at Cornell University. His work has become a Mexican contribution to the evolution of the Modern Architecture that unites the aspirations of the modern world with the traditions of the Mexican culture and environment. Enrique Norten has participated in several internationals exhibitions in a precise display of the Mexican Modernism, which explores the complex production of an ongoing and playful design.
