The National Building Museum today announces it will present the Vincent Scully Prize to His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. The award recognizes The Prince's long-standing interest in the built environment and commitment to creating urban areas with human scale.

The November 3, 2005 ceremony at the National Building Museum will feature a
talk by His Royal Highness and will be part of the first official visit to the
U.S. by both Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of
Cornwall.
"Through his speeches, publications and charitable foundations, The Prince
of Wales has articulated the need for balanced growth of cities, promoted
traditional town planning, and elevated public awareness of architecture,"
said Scully Prize Jury Chairman David Schwarz. "The National Building Museum
is honored to present His Royal Highness with the Vincent Scully Prize."
The Vincent Scully Prize was established in 1999 to recognize exemplary
practice, scholarship or criticism in architecture, historic preservation and
urban design. The Prize ceremony will include a tribute by former Scully
Prize recipient Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, followed by the presentation of the
Prize by Vincent Scully and a talk by The Prince of Wales. National Building
Museum guests will be attending the free event, which is sold out.
In addition to advocacy on behalf of the built environment, The Prince of
Wales has established charities that support work related to the built
environment. The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment teaches the
principles of traditional urban design as key to creating healthy and
prosperous communities that improve the quality of people's lives. The
Foundation is involved in approximately 20 projects ranging from regeneration,
to urban extensions, and brownfield developments. These projects create living
examples of sustainable communities and educate professionals through
practice-based learning. The Prince's Regeneration Trust promotes the rescue
and regeneration of redundant buildings of historic and architectural
importance.
The Prince's School of Traditional Arts aims to teach arts and crafts
skills which have profound roots in all the major faith traditions, and offers
courses such as geometry, Islamic architecture, icon painting, tilemaking,
Islimi/Arabesque, stained glass, and mosaic craft.
In conjunction with the Prize ceremony, the National Building Museum will
present two public exhibitions organized by The Prince's Foundation for the
Built Environment and The Prince's School of Traditional Arts. Both
exhibitions, located in second-floor galleries, will be open to guests
attending the ceremony and then to the public from November 5, 2005 through
January 8, 2006. The Foundation's exhibition, titled Civitas: Traditional
Urbanism in Contemporary Practice, considers the principles underpinning the
traditional urbanism movement by showcasing 17 groundbreaking examples of
urban development from around the world. The exhibition illustrates the
challenges, solutions, and methodologies of these projects, and how they can
provide the key to turning government policy for future developments into the
reality of flourishing settlements. The second exhibition, A Building
Tradition: The Work of the Prince's School of Traditional Arts, presents
exemplary works created by students, alumni, and staff of The Prince's School
of Traditional Arts. The School's curriculum includes courses in geometry,
Islamic architecture, icon painting, tilemaking, Islimi/Arabesque, stained
glass, and mosaic craft.
The National Building Museum established the Vincent Scully Prize in 1999
to honor Professor Scully's work and extend his legacy. Scully is the Sterling
Professor Emeritus of the History of Art at Yale University and Distinguished
Visiting Professor at the University of Miami. He was the first prize
recipient and has been followed by Jane Jacobs, Andres Duany and Elizabeth
Plater-Zyberk, Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, and His Highness the Aga
Khan. The Prince of Wales is the sixth recipient. A jury composed of
Chairman David Schwarz, Carolyn Brody, chair of the Museum's Board of
Trustees, Robert Peck, Samina Quraeshi, and Robert A. M. Stern selects prize
laureates.
Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2005, the National Building Museum is
America's premier cultural institution dedicated to exploring and celebrating
architecture, design, engineering, construction, and planning. Chartered by
Congress in 1980 and open to the public since 1985, the Museum has become a
vital forum for exchanging ideas and information about the built environment
through its exhibitions, education programs, and publications. The Museum is
located at 401 F Street NW, Washington, D.C. Museum hours are Monday through
Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm. Admission is free.
Museum Shop. Cafe. Public inquiries: 202.272.2448 or visit http://www.nbm.org.