This award recognizes the international success of the British Isles in seven categories - arts, sports, science and invention, creativity, community service and community service. It was founded by Morgan Stanley Bank in partnership with the Royal Society for the Promotion of Arts, Industry and Commerce (RSA) and the Daily Telegraph. The main prize of £ 25,000 went to Sir Tim Berners-Lee, one of the inventors of the World Wide Web and the author of the first Internet browser - including for the fact that he made the result of his work for free use by everyone, and constantly opposes commercialization The Internet.
The jury of the award assessed the "Britishness" of each of the candidates, which in their opinion means strength, perseverance, adaptability to the situation, modesty and a sense of humor.
The jury named Foster "Britain's most famous architect" and especially noted his ability to combine functionality and beauty of solutions - which was fully manifested in the recently opened Bridge of Millau in France. He is "the personification of such British character traits as adaptability and modesty."
The architect himself said: "I am very flattered and extremely happy, this is great news for architecture."
